Guillain-Barré syndrome and dengue

CORRESPONDENCE

Guillain-Barré syndrome and dengue

September 26, 2011

Dear Sir,

The publication on Guillain-Barré syndrome and dengue is very interesting¹. Indeed, Guillain-Barré syndrome can be present as a totally unwanted event in any viral infection. However, the direct causal relationship between Guillain-Barré syndrome and dengue required further systematic corroboration. An interesting concern is that there is no confirmed exclusion of other factors that can lead to Guillain-Barré syndrome in the reported cases, including the present one. Also, Soares et al. noted that the case of Guillain-Barré syndrome is usually detectable in asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic dengue infection, but not in overt cases². The emergence of Guillain-Barré syndrome in dengue might be reclassified as new "dengue neurological demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy"³.

Professor Viroj Wiwanitkit

Wiwanitkit House, Bangkhae, Bangkok

Phone: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

• ¹
  Gonçalves E. Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (Guillain-Barré syndrome) following dengue fever. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 2011;53:223-5.
• ²
  Soares CN, Cabral-Castro M, Oliveira C, Faria LC, Peralta JM, Freitas MR, et al. Oligosymptomatic dengue infection: a potential cause of Guillain Barré syndrome. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2008;66:234-7.
• ³
  Soares CN, Cabral-Castro MJ, Peralta JM, Freitas MR, Puccioni-Sohler M. Meningitis determined by oligosymptomatic dengue virus type 3 infection: report of a case. Int J Infect Dis. 2010;14:e150-2.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  16 Dec 2011
• Date of issue
  Dec 2011