Guillain-Barre syndrome and Campylobacter infection

Campylobacter infection of the gastrointestinal tract has been observed as an antecedent illness in some patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS); these patients have been reported to have poor prognosis. We investigated 29 patients with GBS, admitted to our hospital from January 1996 to December 1999 for recent Campylobacter enteritis by culture of their stool specimens. Campylobacter upsaliensis and C. jejuni were isolated from stools of one patient each with acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) and acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP) respectively. The patient with C. upsaliensis infection was a 7 year-old male child who developed features of AMAN, 7 days after onset of diarrhea. He recovered gradually within 24 days with residual deficit in the form of foot drop. This deficit has persisted for last three and half years. The other patient with C. jejuni infection was a 9 year-old boy, who developed AIDP after 9 days of acute diarrhea. This patient recovered completely within 28 days of illness without any deficit. None of the patients had relapse of GBS. The present findings indicate the need of planned systematic studies to explore the role of C. upsaliensis and other campylobacters as agents of antecedent diarrhea in patients of GBS with different clinical presentations and prognosis.