2023-07-15 18:31:00
After several years of relative calm, cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome are on the rise in Peru. The country declared a national health emergency on July 8, for a period of 90 days.
The last outbreak of Guillain-Barré syndrome dates from 2019. That year, more than 900 cases were reported across the country, recalls the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
In 2020, 448 cases had been reported, then 210 in 2021 and 225 in 2022. As of July 8, 2023, 191 cases have been identified, which led the Peruvian presidency to declare “a state of health emergency in national level due to the unusual increase in cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome”.
Objective: “to intensify epidemiological surveillance, prevention and response in public and private health establishments”, specifies the National Center for Epidemiology, Prevention and Disease Control (CDC) of Peru. To date, in Peru, four people have died from Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Zika as a trigger?
This syndrome is manifested by “an attack of the peripheral nerves characterized by weakness, even progressive paralysis, most often beginning in the legs and sometimes going up to reach the muscles of respiration and then the nerves of the head and neck. “, describes the reference information portal on rare diseases, Orphanet.
But the severity of Guillain-Barré syndrome is highly variable, as is its evolution. Deaths are rare, and “in nearly 85% of cases, recovery is complete following six to twelve months”.
If we do not know very well the origin of Guillain-Barré syndrome, we know that it “is often triggered by an infection – bacterial or viral – or more rarely by vaccination or surgery”, recalls the Organization. World Health Organization (WHO).
In countries affected by Zika virus infection such as Peru and many Latin American countries, cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome are increasing. According to the WHO, “the most likely explanation given the available data on outbreaks of Zika virus infection and Guillain-Barré syndrome is that Zika virus infection is a trigger for Guillain-Barré syndrome. Rod”.
To note : According to some specialists, this increase in Guillain-Barré cases might also be linked to the dengue fever epidemic currently raging in Peru, but the link has not been formally established.
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