The suspicion has been there for a long time. Now scientists want to have identified a connection between the Zika virus and an inflammatory neurological disease, Guillain-Barré syndrome. The disease can lead to paralysis.
Researchers have made the first scientific link between the Zika virus and Guillain-Barré syndrome, an inflammatory neurological disease. The team from the Institut Pasteur in Paris published the results of their study in the British journal The Lancet. The study was based on data from patients in French Polynesia.
Between October 2013 and April 2014, around 200,000 residents in the overseas region were affected by a Zika epidemic. The researchers identified 42 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), in which the nervous disease must have been triggered by the virus. This was shown, among other things, by blood tests.
The authors spoke of the “first proof” of a connection between the Zika virus and the neurological disease GBS. Arnaud Fontanet, one of the authors of the study, told the AFP news agency that the effect is comparable to the assumption “that tobacco causes lung cancer”.
Noticeable increase
Several clues made the researchers sure that they had discovered the connection, Fontanet explained. For one, cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome increased 20-fold during the Zika epidemic. On the other hand, 90 percent of people suffering from the syndrome had been infected with Zika a week before.
Traces of the virus and antibodies were also discovered in all patients without exception. Last but not least, the researchers managed to control other causes of GBS disease, such as dengue fever.
attack on the nervous system
Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a rare inflammatory condition in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the nervous system. Sensory disturbances and paralysis in the limbs can occur. Severe breathing difficulties are also possible. According to the researchers, about five percent of cases in developed countries are fatal.
The Zika virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, is currently rampant, especially in South America. Brazil is particularly affected: The number of Zika infections there is estimated at 1.5 million. The virus is also suspected of causing microcephaly in babies, a deformity of the head, making it particularly dangerous for pregnant women. Research is also ongoing into the link between Zika and microcephaly.
It is still unclear whether the results of the study on Guillain-Barré syndrome in French Polynesia can be transferred to the regions in South America. Fontanet has already spoken out in favor of strengthening the health systems there and preparing them for the intensive care of numerous patients.
26 cases in Germany since October
In Germany, 26 infections with the Zika virus have been recorded since October last year. According to current knowledge, pregnant women are not among them, said a spokeswoman for the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin.
Transmissions through sexual intercourse are also not known. However, this information would not necessarily be transmitted. It is also unclear whether other cases have occurred. There is therefore no obligation to report Zika infections.