CAMPYLOBACTER JEJUNI INFECTION AND CHILDHOOD GUILLAIN-BARRE SYNDROME

Objective: Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), acute postinfectious polyneuritis, is the most common cause of acute neuromuscular paralysis. Infection with Campylobacter jejuni is recognized as a common antecedent of the GBS. This study aimed to determine the frequency of this infection in children with GBS and, the clinical and epidemiologic features of this association. Methodology: We performed a prospective case-control study on a cohort of 47 children with GBS admitted to Tabriz Children,s Hospital in the northwest of Iran between July 2006 and July 2008. Serologic investigations were used to diagnose preceding C. jejuni infection. Results: We found evidence of recent C. jejuni infection in 40.4% of the patients with GBS, as compared with 6.1% in household controls (odds ratio 10.5, 95% CI: 2.2-49.2, P<0.001). Duration to achieve independent walking was longer in C. jejuni-associated patients (P<0.013). However 95% of C. jejuni-associated GBS patients achieved independent walking at end of one year. The patients with preceding C jejuni infection were more likely to have axonal neuropathy (P<0.05). Conclusions: Campylobacter jejuni infection is an important antecedent illness in childhood Guillain-Barre syndrome in Iranian children, and is associated with good prognosis.