Influenza, Campylobacter and Mycoplasma infections, and hospital admissions for Guillain-Barré syndrome, England

Emerg Infect Dis. 2006 Dec;12(12):1880-7. doi: 10.3201/eid1212.051032.

Abstract

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is the most common cause of acute flaccid paralysis in polio-free regions. Considerable evidence links Campylobacter infection with GBS, but evidence that implicates other pathogens as triggers remains scarce. We conducted a time-series analysis to investigate short-term correlations between weekly laboratory-confirmed reports of putative triggering pathogens and weekly hospitalizations for GBS in England from 1993 through 2002. We found a positive association between the numbers of reports of laboratory-confirmed influenza A in any given week and GBS hospitalizations in the same week. Different pathogens may trigger GBS in persons of different ages; among those <35 years, numbers of weekly GBS hospitalizations were associated with weekly Campylobacter and Mycoplasma pneumoniae reports, whereas among those >35 years, positive associations were with influenza. Further studies should estimate the relative contribution of different pathogens to GBS incidence, overall and by age group, and determine whether influenza is a real trigger for GBS or a marker for influenza vaccination.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Campylobacter / isolation & purification
  • Campylobacter Infections / epidemiology*
  • Campylobacter Infections / microbiology
  • England / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Guillain-Barre Syndrome / epidemiology*
  • Guillain-Barre Syndrome / microbiology*
  • Hospitalization / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Influenza, Human / epidemiology*
  • Influenza, Human / microbiology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mycoplasma pneumoniae / isolation & purification
  • Orthomyxoviridae / isolation & purification
  • Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / epidemiology*
  • Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / microbiology
  • Regression Analysis
  • Seasons