New evidence linking Zika virus with rare paralysing syndrome ‘is strongest yet’
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have highlighted the risk
SCIENTISTS have found the strongest proof yet of a link between the Zika virus and a rare paralysing syndrome.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, have highlighted the risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome after having Zika - a relationship which scientists have suggested exists for a long time.
Guillain-Barré syndrome is an extremely rare condition which affects the nervous system, and appears days to weeks after a person is infected with viruses or bacteria.
It only affects two out of every 100,000 people - but is potentially very serious, causing anything from slight muscle weakness to paralysis, difficulty speaking, or even death.
It can also take more than a year to recover from.
For the study, a team led by Carlos Pardo, an associate professor of neurology and pathology at Johns Hopkins, examined 68 patients in six Colombian hospitals.
Of these patients, 66 had symptoms of Zika before they developed Guillain-Barré syndrome.
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What is Guillain-Barré syndrome?
- Guillain-Barré syndrome is a
- Its exact cause is currently unknown
- It's usually developed shortly after a viral or bacterial infection
- It causes muscle weakness, co-ordination problems, difficulty speaking and eating and paralysis
- It is treated in hospital and can take over a year to recover from
Meanwhile, the team also tested 42 of the patients for Zika, and found 40 per cent of them had detectable, active Zika.
The researchers also noted almost half of the participant complained of neurological symptoms within four days of Zika symptoms occurring - an unusually fast development of Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Writing in an article accompanying the study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Jennifer Frontera and Ivan da Silva write that further study will strengthen the causal association between Zika and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
They add: "The Zika virus pandemic is just beginning in North America and Africa, and an increase in the incidence of the Guillain-Barré syndrome may follow.”