Study finds strong link between Zika virus

and Guillain-Barre
(CNN)A new study lends support to one of the biggest fears about Zika virus: It
might increase the risk of the rare neurological syndrome Guillain-Barre.

Years before Zika virus first appeared in Latin America, it spread from Africa and
Asia to Pacific islands. From 2013 to 2014, French Polynesia had 32,000 suspected
cases of Zika virus. During this same period, there was also an uptick in cases of
Guillain-Barre.

Researchers in French Polynesia and Europe looked at those 42 cases of GuillainBarre in the Pacific Island nation between October 2013 and April 2014. They asked
whether there was any evidence these patients had been exposed to Zika virus.

The researchers found that 98% of the Guillain-Barre patients had antibodies to
Zika, suggesting they had been infected with the virus, compared with only 56% of
the individuals in a control group that did not have Guillain-Barre. In addition, 88%
of patients had experienced typical symptoms of Zika, including fever, rash and
joint pain, usually about a week before developing Guillain-Barre.

"It is a well-done paper and clearly shows a link between Zika and Guillain-Barre in
Polynesia," said Dr. Peter Jay Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine
at Baylor College of Medicine. Hotez was not involved in the study, which was
published on Monday the Lancet, a medical journal

There has also been an increase in cases of the neurological syndrome, along with a
birth defect called microcephaly, in other areas with Zika outbreaks. According to a
report by the World Health Organizationreleased on Friday, eight countries or
territories have seen increases in Guillain-Barre since 2015. In some of those areas,
including Puerto Rico and Venezuela, there's evidence of Zika infection among
Guillain-Barre patients

"Given the time course of clusters of Guillain-Barre' after peak Zika virus infection, I
think most epidemiologists would say it's certainly related," Dr. Tom Frieden,
director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.
To date, there have been 107 cases in the United States among U.S. travelers
returning from Zika-infected areas. None of these resulted in Guillain-Barre, but that
is not surprising considering how rare it appears to be for infected individuals to
develop this syndrome, Hotez said.
But that could change, at least in parts of the United States.
"It's going to be a big concern as we go into the warmer spring and summer
months, when we start seeing a large uptick in the Aedes aegypti (that carries Zika)
on the Gulf Coast," Hotez said. "We could see an uptick in Zika ... and if we start
seeing a large number of Zika cases, the prediction would be that we would start to
see Guillain-Barre and microcephaly."