Brazilian study links Zika virus to more neurological disorders

A Brazilian medical study reveals a link between the mosquito-borne virus Zika and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a condition often misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis (MS).

The study, the findings of which was released on Friday, was carried out by a hospital in Recife, capital of the northeastern Pernambuco state worst affected by the Zika epidemic.

The Zika epidemic has swept through Brazil and much of Latin America in the past two years.

Pernambuco has seen a sharp rise in the number of microcephaly cases, babies born with abnormally small heads, leading health authorities to believe that it is Zika-related, though there has as yet been no definite scientific proof.

Brazilian news network Globo reported on Friday that doctors at the hospital's department of neurology tested samples taken from 180 patients infected with the Zika virus and showing neurological symptoms, and found 30 of them had developed ADEM, encephalitis or myelitis.

Another 60 patients came down with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder previously associated with Zika that causes the immune system to mistakenly attack the nervous system, leading to muscle weakness and paralysis.

"Without a doubt there is a link between the diseases and the Zika virus," Lucia Brito, head of the medical team, told the news agency.

Brito said that ADEM is a more complicated condition in which "the patient's level of consciousness can change. In other words, they can enter into a coma."

Of those with ADEM, two continue to suffer with symptoms almost a year after the onset of the disease, including "a boy with motor deficit and an adult with motor difficulty and impaired vision," Brito said.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society describes ADEM as "a brief but intense attack of inflammation (swelling) in the brain and spinal cord and occasionally the optic nerves that damages the brain's myelin (the white coating of nerve fibers)."

Unlike MS, which is gradual, ADEM appears rapidly and is passing, though it can leave permanent damage. Common symptoms include rapid onset fever, weakness and loss of vision, and in extreme cases, coma.

Mosquitos that carries the Zika virus also transmit dengue and chikungunya.

Brazil has reported 31,616 confirmed cases of Zika and over 90,000 suspected cases, with three deaths caused by the disease.

On Feb. 1, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared "the cluster of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders a health emergency" and called for concerted efforts to curb the spread of Zika. Endi