'The weakness started in my legs and climbed upward': Can Zika cause paralysis?

'What kills people is being paralyzed in an intensive care unit.'

As Zika spreads, victims of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and now paralysis have been cropping up. Scientists race the clock to discover what Zika does to cause both GBS and paralysis disorders.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Vatican Radio reported World Health Organization's (WHO) Dr. Tarun Dua's concern over the increase of GBS and paralysis.

"There is muscle weakness so the person could have difficulty walking and then have difficulty using their arms, and loss of sensation. And sometimes it can also lead to the chest muscles - muscles that control breathing and this is one of the reasons that when you have paralysis of these muscles, the person can die. Some other causes of death are also infections or lung clots or cardiac arrest."

According to The Washington Post, The first Zika-related paralysis case was 41-year-old Eliana Uribe, who lives in Brazil. When paralysis hit, she was carried to the hospital by her family.
Only two days later, the paralysis spread to her chest and face, leaving her short of breath. Sadly, Uribe died after her brain drowned in fluid, which doctors described as "severe hydrocephaly," which is when cerebrospinal fluid fails to circulate properly and causes high pressures in the skull against the brain.

Another woman, 49-year-old Zulay Balza, admitted she had a strange rash and sore joints. When she attempted to walk, she collapsed and claimed her legs felt "like rags."

"The weakness started in my legs and climbed upward. The face was last. After three days, I couldn't walk,"  Balza said.

The CDC believes the paralysis is linked to GBS, which normally causes the immune system to attack nerve cells after mistaking them for a virus. Sometimes the damage to nerve cells is so great that the protective myelin membranes leave the body's muscles unable to communicate with the brain, thus resulting in paralysis.

Kenneth Gorson, professor of neurology at Tufts University, Boston, explained: "What kills people is being paralyzed in an intensive care unit. It's complications from being on a ventilator for long periods of time, the risk of blood clots, wound infections from lack of movement or other numerous medical complications that occur in paralyzed patients. Access to quality care is critical."

In one study conducted in the Netherlands, under "high-level care," one in every 20 GBS patients died, with nearly 25 percent of them requiring aid to breathe properly.

Unfortunately, regions rife with Zika suffer overflowing hospitals, ludicrously expensive treatments and the lack of high-level care.

Tarun Dua, a WHO neurologist, said, "We are seeing a spike [of Guillain-Barre syndrom] everywhere that we are seeing the Zika virus."

Another concern, voiced by WHO director of maternal, child and adolescent development, Anthony Costello, is the concern that "Zika may be a more efficient trigger of Guillain-Barre, but we can't say at the moment. The detective work is starting, but it takes time."

With Zika lasting only about one week in the blood stream after initial infection, and no widely available quick test for the virus, it is difficult to detect how many GBS patients had Zika before contracting GBS.

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