A study conducted strengthens the link between Zika virus and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
A result of the study conducted by researchers showed that there are evidences that link the mosquito-borne Zika virus to a neurological disorder known as Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a disorder in which the immune system of the body attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. The first symptoms of this disorder include varying degrees of weakness or tingling sensations in the legs.
Although researchers have said that the proof of cause-and-effect of the virus and the syndrome remains elusive.
The study of the researchers at Johns Hopkins University appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday.
Its results were based on research conducted at six different hospitals in Colombia where 68 people with Guillain-Barre syndrome were involved. Most of respondents to the study have had previous symptoms of Zika infection including rash, fever, headache and red eyes.
After a close analysis of these cases, the researchers of the said university reported “the strongest evidence to date” of an association with Guillain-Barre to Zika virus.
According to the study, nearly half of those involved in the study “complained of neurologic symptoms within four days of the onset of Zika symptoms.”
The said symptoms was a response that was unusually fast compared with those who develop Guillain-Barre symptoms after other viral infections, such as influenza or herpes.
Electrodiagnostic neurological tests showed that a total of 46 patients were confirmed to have Guillain-Barre and most had a specific variant in which the infection attacks protective cells known as myelin, which insulate the surface of the nerve fibers.
Based on figures, Guillain-Barre occurs in about one in 100,000 people in the world, and usually appears days to weeks after infection with viruses or bacteria.
The study explained that when Guillain-Barre strikes, own immune system of the person “attacks the myelin sheaths that protect the body’s nerve cells, often resulting in muscle weakness, pain, sensory deficiencies and, in very acute cases, paralysis.”
Despite of this, experts still do not know why it strikes some people but not others.
The researchers said that in order to prove whether or not Zika causes Guillain-Barre syndrome, or to understand the biological mechanisms at play, more research is needed to be conducted.
