NUI Galway scientists have developed a rapid test to detect strains of a form of gastroenteritis that can lead to paralysis.
The test at the microbiology department can trace Campylobacter jejuni, the most common cause of gastroenteritis worldwide. In rare instances, sufferers from the infection can develop a neurological complication, GuillainBarre Syndrome (GBS). Enteritis is usually traced to untreated milk or water or under-cooked poultry meat. Among the tens of thousands of these cases about 40 to 50 lead to potential GBS. It has replaced polio as the leading infectious paralytic disease, according to Dr Anthony Moran of NUI Galway, who has done extensive research on the area.
Dr Moran says the number affected by it here is on the increase. It usually develops seven to 10 days after the onset of enteritis. In 1999 a total of 2,085 cases of laboratory-confirmed Campylobacter jejuni were reported in Ireland. Those unlucky few who develop GBS can be left with paralysis for months, and 20 per cent are left with a residual disability while five per cent of cases are fatal.
The rapid test developed by Dr Moran and Dr Martina Prendergast eliminates the need to grow large quantities of the organism. The team is also working on safety issues relating to the development of a vaccine against the illness. The work is being funded as part of a three-year project by the Irish Health Research Board.
