Six Colorado children with paralysis symptoms released from hospital

Photo: Children's Hospital in DenverSix of the 10 Colorado children who suffered limb weakness and paralysis have improved enough to be released from Children's Hospital in Denver. But doctors, who held a news conference Tuesday, say the cause remains a mystery.

One of the four children still hospitalized is in intensive care and requires help breathing and feeding. All 10 suffered a respiratory illness like a common cold a week before symptoms like double vision, difficulty swallowing facial droop, limb weakness, and/or paralysis emerged.

“The question that I think is on lots of people’s minds and our minds is what the recovery will be of these children," says Dr. Samuel Dominquez, one of lead investigators. "I think that’s still an unknown question in terms of will these kids fully recover or not, and we don’t know that.”

Investigators from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working to see if there's a link to a respiratory virus that's broken out nationwide.

Dr. Chris Nyquist, also of Children's Hospital, urges parents to get kids vaccinated for flu and whooping cough, and to use common sense.

“Encouraging their children to wash their hands, avoiding people who are sick," says Nyquist. "We know that in the school setting many children are passing viruses back and forth.”