지카바이러스 감염에 의한 신경계 증후와 공중보건 위기

Neurological manifestations of Zika virus infection and public health crisis

In the wake of a surge of cases of microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome in Brazil, association of which with Zika virus infection has now been confirmed, the World Health Organization declared ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’. Once an obscure mosquito-borne virus due to mildness of the disease caused by the virus, Zika has become a virus that humanity must overcome with an all-out effort. In this article, we briefly review current knowledge of the virus, the vector, the epidemiological situation and the response strategy. In the context of general understanding of the virus and public health crisis, we highlight three papers that have been seminal in terms of confirming the apparent association of Zika virus infection and the neurological manifestations such as microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome, and bringing attention to a possibility of a different way of the Zika infection-mediated neurological manifestation such as acute myelitis.