Zika News And Current Updates: Strong Link Found Between Zika And Guillain-Barré, Researchers Claim

Zika is still giving health care experts major headaches as it continues to affect more and more people. Just recently, a comparison on the number of cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome before and after Zika affected seven countries showed that there is a strong connection between the virus and the illness. Researchers said that the number rose to as much as 877 percent in Venezuela alone.

The outbreak of the Zika Virus was first recorded in Brazil where it affected a lot of pregnant women who are considered to be at greatest risk of contracting the virus. The virus can cause severe birth defects such as microcephaly which is manifested by a small-sized head and underdeveloped brains. According to the numbers, there are already more than 180,000 recorded cases of microcephaly in Brazil since Zika arrived.

In a report by Fox News, it said that Dr. Marcos Espinal, director of the department of communicable disease at PAHO - the regional arm of the World Health Organization - and colleagues studied the rates of GBS and ZIka in several Latin American countries such as Bahia, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Suriname and Venezuela. Using data collected through official country reports, researchers checked a total of 164,237 confirmed and suspected cases of Zika virus disease and 1,474 cases of Guillain-Barré that happened from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016.

"During the weeks of Zika virus transmission, there were significant increases in the incidence of the Guillain-Barré syndrome, as compared with the pre-Zika virus baseline incidence, in (Brazil's) Bahia State (an increase of 172 percent), Colombia (211 percent), the Dominican Republic (150 percent), El Salvador (100 percent), Honduras (144 percent), Suriname (400 percent), and Venezuela (877 percent)," they wrote.

Huffington Post reported that the researchers' analysis discovered a very close relationship between the increase in the number of cases of both Zika and GBS. "When the incidence of Zika virus disease increased, so did the incidence of the Guillain-Barré syndrome," researchers said. The team were not able to find a connection between Guillain-Barré and dengue which also a related virus that had been suspected to contribute to the increase in the number of cases.

According to NBC News, based on the results of the study, researchers concluded that the two are strongly related, but they said more study is needed to prove direct link. Guillain-Barré is characterized by gradual weakness in the legs, arms and upper body, and in some cases, temporary paralysis. Patients often require intensive care and a respirator to support their breathing until they recover.

A man in Puerto Rico died last month of Guillain-Barré caused by Zika. It's usually seen in about every 5,000 to 10,000 infections like Zika but it is also believed that other infections can cause Guillain-Barré syndrome.