BERLIN — A rare neurological disorder is on the rise in several Latin American countries that are also seeing an outbreak of the Zika virus, officials from the World Health Organization said Saturday.
The U.N. health body in Geneva said in a weekly report that Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can cause temporary paralysis, has been reported in Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Suriname and Venezuela.
The increase in Guillain-Barre cases is appearing in conjunction with the spread of the Zika virus to 34 countries and also with increasing cases of microcephaly, a rare condition in which infants are born with abnormally small heads.
However, health agency officials said "the cause of the increase in GBS incidence remains unknown, especially as dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus have all been circulating simultaneously in the Americas."
While no scientific evidence to date confirms a link between Zika virus and microcephaly or GBS, the syndrome was also observed during the 2013-14 Zika virus outbreak in French Polynesia.
In Brazil, which has been hardest hit by the Zika outbreak, authorities reported 42 cases of GBS in July. Twenty-six of the cases were in patients with a history of symptoms consistent with Zika virus infection. In November, seven patients in Brazil presenting GBS were confirmed by laboratory tests to have a Zika virus infection, WHO reported.
GBS symptoms include muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis, according to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. In the most serious cases, the muscle weakness can affect breathing and patients may need a breathing tube.
Read Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.