Zika virus outbreak in New Caledonia and Guillain-Barré syndrome: a case-control study

Olivier Simon (1) , Blandine Acket (2) , Carole Forfait-Dubuc (3) , Dominique Girault (4) , Ann-Claire Gourinat (5) , Pauline Millon (1) , Maguy Daures (3) , Jessica Vanhomwegen (6) , Segolene Billot (1) , Antoine Biron (5) , Damien Hoinard (6) , Élodie Descloux (1) , David Guyon (1) , Jean-Claude Manuguerra (6) , Sylvie Laumond (7) , Nicolas Molko (1) , Myrielle Dupont-Rouzeyrol (4)

1 Centre hospitalier territorial Gaston-Bourret [Nouméa]
2 CHU Toulouse - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse
3 New Caledonia Health Department
4 URE-DA - Dengue et Arbovirose
5 Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle-Calédonie
6 CIBU - Cellule d'Intervention Biologique d'Urgence - Laboratory for Urgent Response to Biological Threats
7 Direction des affaires sanitaires et sociales de Nouvelle-Calédonie

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has been associated with neurologic disorders including Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). In New Caledonia during the ZIKV outbreak (2014-2015), case-control and retrospective studies have been performed to assess the link between ZIKV and GBS. Among the 15 cases included, 33% had evidence of a recent ZIKV infection compared to only 3.3% in the 30 controls involved. All patients were Melanesian, had facial diplegia and similar neurophysiological pattern consistent with acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, and recovered well. Furthermore, during the peak of ZIKV transmission, we observed a number of GBS cases higher than the calculated upper limit, emphasizing the fact that ZIKV is now a major trigger of GBS.

Keywords: Case control study; Guillain-Barré syndrome; New Caledonia; Zika virus

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Virology

Olivier Simon, Blandine Acket, Carole Forfait-Dubuc, Dominique Girault, Ann-Claire Gourinat, et al.. Zika virus outbreak in New Caledonia and Guillain-Barré syndrome: a case-control study. Journal of NeuroVirology, 2018, 24 (3), pp.362 - 368. ⟨10.1007/s13365-018-0621-9⟩. ⟨pasteur-01831514⟩