{Researchers say evidence links Zika virus to spike in cases of severe neurological disorder characterised by paralysis.}<\/p>\n
A new study has given first evidence that the Zika virus may be the cause for a spike in cases of a severe neurological disorder called the Guillain-Barr\u00e9 Syndrome (GBS).<\/p>\n
The study , published by the medical journal Lancet, showed 42 patients developed symptoms of GBS, which causes the immune system to attack parts of the nervous system.<\/p>\n
The neurological symptoms include acute motor axonal neuropathy, which is characterised by severe paralysis. It also caused respiratory problems in about one-third of the patients who needed medical assistance to breathe properly, the report said.<\/p>\n
However, none of the patient-subjects died.<\/p>\n
“This is the first study providing evidence for Zika virus infection causing Guillain-Barr\u00e9 syndrome. Because Zika virus is spreading rapidly across the Americas, at risk countries need to prepare for adequate intensive care beds capacity to manage patients with Guillain-Barr\u00e9 syndrome,” the study said.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization (WHO) described Zika, which is spread by mosquitoes, as a public health emergency of global concern in February.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Zika virus facts you need to know<\/p>\n
There are also suspicions that the virus could be linked to Brazil’s rise in cases of microcephaly – a condition of underdeveloped brains in newborns. <\/p>\n
However, the Colombian government has questioned the link, saying it has not seen any evidence for it after more than 3,000 pregnant women in the country contracted Zika.<\/p>\n
But Colombia’s health officials have said that at least three people of who died from Zika had symptoms of GBS.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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-Barr\u00e9 could strain healthcare facilities, especially outside of big cities.<\/p>\n
“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 Institut Pasteur in Paris.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{Researchers say evidence links Zika virus to spike in cases of severe neurological disorder characterised by paralysis.} A new study has given first evidence that the Zika virus may be the cause for a spike in cases of a severe neurological disorder called the Guillain-Barr\u00e9 Syndrome (GBS). The study , published by the medical journal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[101],"byline":[2474],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-23606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","tag-internationl","byline-al-jazeera"],"bylines":[{"id":2474,"name":"AL JAZEERA","slug":"al-jazeera","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2474,"name":"AL JAZEERA","slug":"al-jazeera","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23606\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23606"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=23606"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=23606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}