2 year old with recurrent diarrhea and quadriplegia can only mean hypokalemic paralysis. The cause of hypokalemia could be due to diarrhoea itself or due to malnutrition secondary to recurrent diarhoea. Is there any family history of peroidic paralysis in which case it would be famelial peroidic paralysis. We need to do serum electrolytes, look for and corrct acidosis, and as the child is having weakness of all 4 limbs impending respiratory paralysis should be looked for. In the pre polio eradication era, one would have strongly thought of spinal/bulbar poliomyelitis. But as the diease is almost on the verge of eradication, it is not possible, unless the child was unimmunized.
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