East County News Service

February 29, 2016 (San Diego) – Zika has recently been suspected of causing Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. It can leave patients partially paralyzed, sometimes permanently, also causing breathing problems in severe cases after the patient’s immune system attacks nerve cells, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Now results of a study published in the medical journal The Lancet confirm that nearly all of the blood samples from 42 Guillain-Barré patients in French Polynesia in the South Pacific two years ago also tested positive for Zika virus.