Zika virus: Colombia warns of spike in patients with related paralysis disorder

[flamingdem]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/28/zika-virus-colombia-paralysis-disorder-guillain-barre

Colombia has seen a sharp spike in the number of patients diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder that can cause paralysis among people with the Zika virus, the health minister has said.

“In the past week we have seen a substantial increase in the number of people reported with Guillain-Barré,” said health minister Alejandro Gaviria, referring to a rare syndrome that causes a person’s own immune system to damage nerve cells, leading to muscle weakness and sometimes, paralysis.
A week ago only about 15 people infected with Zika were reported with the syndrome. “I think that figure now is in the hundreds,” he said on Thursday.

Gaviria said one neurologist in the northern coastal city of Cartagena had said he would normally see three cases of Guillain-Barre (GBS) in a year. “Now he’s seeing three in one day,” Gaviria said.
Until now most health alerts in the more than 20 countries where the Zika virus has been detected have concentrated on pregnant women, since the virus can cause microcephaly and brain damage to the foetus. Authorities in several Latin American countries have called on women to delay pregnancy until the outbreak eases.

GBS, however, can affect the wider population. “It’s our most important concern today,” the minister said.

On Thursday the World Health Organisation declared that the Zika virus, which by itself causes mild flu-like symptoms, is “spreading explosively”. It has been detected in 22 countries.

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1. Brazil is 'badly losing' the battle against Zika virus, says health minister

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/26/brazil-zika-virus-health-minister-armed-forces-eradication

Nearly 220,000 troops to be deployed to eradicate mosquitoes

Minister’s comments provoke criticism in Brazil and abroad

Health experts fear Carnival will lead to spread

Brazil’s health minister was warned that the country is “badly losing” the battle against the mosquito blamed for spreading Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects.

Marcelo Castro said that nearly 220,000 members of Brazil’s armed forces would go door-to-door to help in mosquito eradication efforts, according to Rio de Janeiro’s O Globo newspaper. It also quoted Castro as saying the government would distribute mosquito repellent to some 400,000 pregnant women who receive cash-transfer benefits.

But all major Brazilian dailies quoted Castro as saying the country is “badly losing the battle” against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.