Relationship between Zika and Guillain-Barré Syndrome
The World Health Organization has already shown that the Zika virus causes microcephaly in babies. Now he suspects that the Zika virus may be related to Guillain-Barré syndrome , an autoimmune disease that attacks the nervous system. The Zika virus is considered a global epidemic. It is transmitted
The World Health Organizationhas already shown that the Zika virus causes microcephaly in babies. Now he suspects that the Zika virus may be related to Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disease that attacks the nervous system.
The Zika virus is considered a global epidemic. It is transmitted by a mosquito, Aedes Aegypti, the same mosquito that infects dengue fever, yellow fever or chikungunya. Now his relationship with this other disease is studied.
What is Guillain-Barré Syndrome
Guillain-Barré Syndrome (opolirradiculoneuritis) is a disease of the nervous system. It happens when the body's defenses mistakenly attack the nervous system, causing joint problems, such as inflammation and paralysis in some areas of the body.
This disease is often associated with viruses or bacterial infections, such as Influenza (causing the flu), mononucleosis, pneumonia, herpes simplex ...
Symptoms of Guillain-Barré disease
This syndrome occurs because the body's defenses attack by mistake the body itself, in this case, the nervous system. Guillain-Barré disease damages part of the nerves and can leave the patient in a wheelchair in just 24 hours. It begins with the legs in an upward direction, until it reaches the head. Therefore, among its symptoms are these:
- Muscle weakness, starting in the legs
- Loss of sensitivity to heat and the sense of touch in different textures
- Tingling sensation
- Paralysis
- Respiratory problems and alteration of the heart rate if the disease reaches the thorax
- It could become fatal in its last phase, although in most cases the disease disappears
Relationship between Guillain-Barré syndrome and Zika virus
Zika virus it is a disease transmitted by a mosquito, the Aedes Aegypti. In healthy adults, it is not a dangerous disease. In some cases (not all) produces malaise, headache and joint pain, conjunctivitis and rashes in the body. A virus, which usually does not last more than a week. The main danger is that it attacks pregnant women, since it generates microcephaly in newborns. For this reason, the WHO recommends that countries affected by this virus should allow the pregnant woman to have an abortion if she so wishes, if she is infected with the virus.
However, the Zika virus continues to be investigated, since the World Health Organization thinks that may generate Guillain-Barré Syndrome in some people. This leads to paralysis for several months, until the disease disappears spontaneously. In El Salvador, a country affected by the Zika virus, the cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome have increased alarmingly. In Honduras, there have also been more than a dozen cases.
At the moment there is no effective treatment for this syndrome, although it is treated with corticosteroids to mitigate its effects.
