Researchers report the biological link between Zika infection, Guillain-Barre syndrome read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/1161-researchers-report-the-biological-link-between-zika-infection-guillain-barre-syndrome

In a collaborative effort with scientists at six hospitals in Colombia, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report what they believe to be the strongest biological evidence to date linking Zika virus infection and Guillain-Barre syndrome.

According to the study, Guillain-Barre is a disorder that causes potentially life-threatening muscle weakness when the immune system attacks the nerves.

Dr. Carlos Pardo, an associate professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, said, this is the first solid evidence that the virus is present in patients with Guillain-Barre.

Researchers said, at least 14 patients cited in the study were diagnosed with both Zika infection and Guillain-Barre syndrome using the highest-level tests available for both illnesses.

However, there has also been an increase in cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome within South American countries hit hardest by Zika, prompting public health officials to draw a tentative link between the two.

Guillain-Barre is rare, normally afflicting about one person in 100,000. But, when Zika struck French Polynesia several years ago, about one in 4,000 people infected with the virus also developed Guillain-Barre.

People with Guillain-Barre experience muscle weakness that can range from slight weakness and tingling in the legs all the way up to full paralysis requiring a ventilator.

To bring more light to this potential connection, researchers evaluated 68 patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome at Colombian hospitals. They performed tests on 42 of the patients to detect the presence of Zika virus.

Using the most advanced genetic test available for the virus, researchers determined that 17 patients tested positive for Zika in their urine.

Another 18 patients also displayed potential evidence of Zika infection, the researchers noted. Guillain-Barre has been linked to other viral and bacterial infections, including Campylobacter, influenza, yellow fever and Epstein-Barr virus.

Researchers said, Zika and these other infectious agents could be creating a condition called "molecular mimicry" to provoke an attack on the nervous system by the immune system.

Zika proteins may share some similarities to nerve cells in the body, or to the fatty white substance called myelin that sheaths nerve cells. So, antibodies created to attack Zika might become confused and wind up attacking the nervous system.