Back to the Zika virus itself, yesterday a new study in the British medical journal The Lancet
Guillain-Barré Syndrome outbreak associated with Zika virus infection in French Polynesia: a case-control study linked Zika and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and also provided a possible estimate of the odds that someone with Zika might develop GBS.
A report from CNN
Study finds strong link between Zika virus and Guillain-Barre is easier to read.
The study looked at a Zika outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013- 2014 with a suspected 32,000 Zika cases and an increase in GBS.
The microcephaly cases affecting babies of Zika-infected pregnant women have been well-reported. Regarding GBS, which can affect adults, here's part of CNN's report:
Quote:
Although Guillain-Barre is very rare, affecting about one in 100,000 people in the United States, the study suggests that Zika could make it less rare. The researchers estimate, based on the rates of Zika and Guillain-Barre in French Polynesia, that one in 4,000 people infected with Zika could develop the neurological syndrome.
"In the vast majority of people, Zika is still causing mild illness to no symptoms," Hotez* said. "It's an important question that remains unanswered: What is it about the subset of people that get Guillain-Barre?"
Guillain-Barre is an autoimmune disorder in which the body's immune system attacks the nervous system. The disease typically affects axons, the parts of peripheral nerves that transmit nerve signals, or the myelin sheath covering the axons.
The result is that patients, over the course of several weeks, experience tingling in their legs, then weakness in their legs and arms, and in some cases even lose the ability to use muscles. In general, it can take patients weeks to years to recover, and 30% of them still have weakness three years later.
In the current study, 74% of patients had muscle weakness, 64% had weakness specifically in facial muscles and 29% needed assistance to breathe. Breathing difficulties can be a fatal complication of the syndrome, although no patients in the study died.
Among the patients in the study, 57% were able to walk on their own within three months. There are treatments that can reduce the symptoms, help recovery and treat complications.
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The quote in CNN's piece is from Dr. Peter Jay Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine here in Houston.
In
Zika can cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, study shows USAToday talked to Arnaud Fontanet, one of the authors of The Lancet's study and head of the emerging diseases epidemiology unit at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and noted his reluctance to generalize about the odds of Zika leading to GBS: "Fontanet said it's not possible to say what percentage of people in Latin America and the Caribbean will be infected with Zika or affected by Guillain-Barre. He notes that Zika may spread differently on a large continent than it did on these islands."
Separately, the World Health Organization released a new
Situation Report about Zika, microcephaly, and GBS on February 26.
Clearly it's a developing story and researchers are learning more.
Meanwhile, we're not quite into mosquito season along the Gulf Coast. Our highs yesterday and today were into the 80s. Local authorities are still emphasizing advance clean-up of places where mosquitoes might breed as well as cautions to those who travel to Zika-affected areas and their sex partners.