Zika virus is the culprit causing dangerous neurological syndrome

One-thirds of scientists confirmed that Zika is spreading rapidly in Latin America and that the virus is the cause of Guillain-Barre's dangerous neurological disorders.

According to AFP, in a study published in the medical journal The Lancet, a group of 24 scientists demonstrated that the Zika virus was associated with the 2013-2014 Guillain-Barre (GSB) syndrome in French Polynesia. GSB is a rare disorder caused by the body's immune system attacking a part of the peripheral nervous system.

The study of 42 patients infected with GSB during the Polynesian outbreak, including blood tests, showed that the Zika virus was the culprit of the GSB syndrome."This is the first evidence that Zika virus caused Guillain-Barre," the study wrote.

Arnaud Fontanet, professor of epidemiology on emerging diseases of Pasteur Institute (Paris), said the researchers did not doubt that Zika virus was the cause of increased GBS cases. "The relationship is high, just as cigarettes cause cancer , " he told AFP.

Zika virus proved to be the cause of GSB syndrome.(Photo: AP).

According to him, 3 evidence leading to this conclusion includes the number of GBS cases increased 20 times during the outbreak of Zika outbreak; 90% of GBS patients have debilitating symptoms caused by Zika virus before and detect the characteristics of Zika virus in 100% of patients infected with GBS, including those with antibodies against this virus.

However, researchers have not yet discovered the biological mechanism of Zika virus causing GBS syndrome .

Some non-research experts agree that the detection of Zika virus associated with GSB is a breakthrough.

"This study provides the most compelling evidence so far about the link between Zika virus and severe Guillain-Barre neurological syndrome , " said Jeremy Farrar, the Wellcome Trust organization director in the UK.

According to him, the world needs to prepare for unpredictable developments when the scale of Zika epidemic in Latin America is at serious level.

With 1.5 million cases of Zika virus infection in Brazil and dozens of other patients in neighboring countries, researchers warn of the risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome outbreak that could make health facilities, especially outside major cities, in a state of stress.

"In the area affected by Zika virus, we need to pay attention to strengthening the capacity of special care," Professor Fontanet said.

People with Zika virus themselves do not have many symptoms other than cold or mild flu. Sometimes they have no unusual expression. But the rapid spread of the virus, which has now appeared in nearly 40 countries and territories, is thought to cause a spike in cases of babies with microcephaly.

Last week, Brazilian officials reported 583 cases of infants with small head malformations since October 2015. This figure is 4 times higher than the average of previous years.

Zika spreads from person to person primarily through the bite of Aedes mosquitoes. But recent evidence suggests that it can also be transmitted sexually from patients with Zika virus.

On 1/2, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a state of emergency for public health due to cases of small head and GBS increased, although the relationship with Zika virus has not yet Clearly researched.