KINGSTON, Jamaica – Chief Medical Officer, Dr Winston De La Haye, says in addition to its public education efforts, the Ministry of Health has been increasing clinical capacity to deal with the Zika virus and its associated complications, including Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).

Increasing clinical capacity is reportedly being done through training of health care professionals, infrastructure upgrades, increased human resources and acquisition of equipment, supplies and medication.

“We have been working very closely with health practitioners in the public and private sector and have provided clinical guidelines on diagnosing and treating complications of Zika. These have also been made available on our website,” Dr De La Haye said in a news release from the ministry on Monday.

The release stated that the ministry has also:

• Stockpiled supplies of the requisite medication, including immunoglobulin, to appropriately treat GBS and other forms of Zika manifestation.

• Prepared and increased capacity at Intensive Care Units and High Dependency areas at hospitals

• Acquired additional ventilators and making repairs to others that are not presently functioning.

• Employed retired nurses and will also get others from Cuba to improve the human resource capacity, especially for ICUs.

Meanwhile, Dr De La Haye is advising people who experience symptoms such as weakness of the limbs during or right after having Zika-like symptoms to visit their doctor immediately as this could mean the onset of GBS.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a rare condition in which a person’s immune system attacks his or her nerves.

According to the WHO people of all ages can be affected, but it is more common in adult men. Most people recover fully from even the most severe cases but in 20-25 per cent of people with the condition, the chest muscles are affected, making it hard to breathe.

Severe cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome are rare, but can result in paralysis.