Zika virus can trigger severe neurological disorder: study
A group of pregnant women wait to be attended at the maternity of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS) in Guatemala City on January 26, 2016 due to the risk of infection by Zika virus. Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) and Wellcome Trust Programme have embarked on a study to establish whether or not the Zika virus is present in Kenya. PHOTO | JOHAN ORDONEZ |
What you need to know:
- In a study published in the medical journal The Lancet, a team probed Zika’s suspected role in a 2013-2014 outbreak in French Polynesia of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) - a rare condition in which the body’s immune system attacks a part of the nervous system that controls muscle strength.
- In rich nations, GBS is lethal in about five percent of cases, and another five percent suffer lasting disabilities. More than a quarter of patients require intensive care.
- With 1.5 million cases of Zika infection already recorded in Brazil, and tens of thousands in neighbouring countries, researchers warn that an outbreak of Guillain-Barre could strain healthcare facilities.
PARIS
Scientists on Tuesday said they had confirmed that the Zika virus sweeping Latin America and blamed for severe birth defects can also trigger a dangerous neurological disorder.
In a study published in the medical journal The Lancet, a team probed Zika’s suspected role in a 2013-2014 outbreak in French Polynesia of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) - a rare condition in which the body’s immune system attacks a part of the nervous system that controls muscle strength.
Research into patients who fell ill with GBS, supported by blood tests, proved that the mosquito-borne virus was the culprit, they said.
“This is the first evidence for Zika virus causing Guillain-Barre syndrome,” the study said.
The syndrome - which can also be caused by bacterial infections as well as the dengue and chikungunya viruses - provokes muscle weakness in the legs and arms.
LETHAL
In rich nations, GBS is lethal in about five percent of cases, and another five percent suffer lasting disabilities. More than a quarter of patients require intensive care.
With 1.5 million cases of Zika infection already recorded in Brazil, and tens of thousands in neighbouring countries, researchers warn that an outbreak of Guillain-Barre could strain healthcare facilities.
“In areas that will be hit by the Zika epidemic, we need to think about reinforcing intensive care capacity,” said Arnaud Fontanet, a co-author of the study and a professor at the Emerging Diseases Epidemiology Unit of the Institute Pasteur in Paris.
"A certain number of those patients are going to develop GBS, and 30 percent of them are going to need intensive care, especially for assisted breathing,” he told AFP. By itself, Zika is no more threatening than a bad cold.
