Suspected links between the Zika virus and two
neurological disorders, microcephaly in babies and Guillain-Barre syndrome,
should be confirmed within weeks, says the World Health Organisation.
A sharp increase in birth defects in Brazil has
triggered a global health emergency over the mosquito-borne virus, which had
previously been viewed as a relatively mild illness, and has spurred a race to
develop a vaccine and better diagnostic tests.
The WHO said on Friday US government scientists and
an Indian biotechnology firm were currently front-runners in the race to
develop a vaccine. The UN agency for the first time advised pregnant women to
consider delaying travel to Zika-infected areas.
Brazil, centre of the Zika outbreak that has spread
to more than 30 countries, is hosting the Rio 2016 Olympics, an event expected
to draw hundreds of thousands of athletes, officials and spectators.
'It seems indeed that the link with Zika (and
microcephaly) is becoming more and more probable, so I think that we need a few
more weeks and a few more studies to have this straight,' Marie-Paule Kieny,
WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation, told a news
briefing.
Studies of pregnant Latin American women who are
confirmed as having had the Zika virus and due to deliver their babies soon
should yield evidence, Kieny said, adding data also was being collected from
studies in French Polynesia and Cape Verde.
Kieny said areas hit by the Zika virus had also seen
increased cases of the neurological disease Guillain-Barre, adding: 'The direct
causality has still to be demonstrated but the association in time and in
location seems to be clear.'
Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the body's immune
system attacks part of the nervous system, causes gradual weakness in the legs,
arms and upper body and sometimes total paralysis.
Researchers in Brazil are scrambling to determine
whether Zika has caused a big rise in the number of cases of microcephaly, or
abnormally small heads in newborns, with more than 4000 suspected cases of the
condition reported to date.
Brazil has confirmed more than 400 of those cases as
microcephaly and has identified the presence of Zika in 17 babies but a link
has yet to be proven.
A world health organisation official says a vaccine
for the virus is in the works, however mass human trials are at least 18 months
away.
WHO says its poor knowledge of Zika has presented a
challenge but their response to the crisis is now 'proceeding very quickly'.
Credit:Reuters
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