CASTRIES, St Lucia, (CMC) — St Lucia says it has recorded an increase in the number of the Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) even as the island notes a decreasing trend in the number of cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

The Ministry of Health said that the Zika virus, which was first confirmed here this year “reached a peak towards the middle of June 2016 and has been decreasing ever since”.

But it said that evidence of new infections of Zika virus diseases continues with occasional spikes in the number of cases and that the island remains on “high alert” for the complications of the Zika virus.

“So far this year, the island has recorded an increase in the number of cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome as compared to a similar point in time last year. Four GBS cases have been admitted and treated to date. All of the individuals have been males, with ages ranging from 38 years to 56 years old,” the Ministry of Health noted.

It said that some of the patients affected by “this reversible, ‘paralytic type’ illness”, had prior symptoms suggestive of the Zika virus.

Health authorities say given the possible development of abnormalities in babies born of pregnant women who have been infected with Zika virus disease, the Ministry of Health is also monitoring 39 pregnant women with the Zika virus.

The Ministry of Health said approximately five of these women have delivered to date and that microcephaly, a birth defect where a baby’s head is smaller than expected when compared to babies of the same sex and age or other abnormalities have not been noted in any of the babies born to Zika infected mothers so far.

“However, given that the effects of Zika in pregnancy are more pronounced if a pregnant woman gets infected in the first three months of pregnancy, close monitoring of the remaining pregnant women continues.”

The Ministry of Health said that the Zika virus disease is generally a mild viral disease, caused by the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito.

It said only one out of every four persons affected with the disease may develop symptoms such as fever, skin rash, joint or muscle pain, and red eyes.

“Though the mosquito is the main agent responsible for spreading the disease, it has also been shown that the virus can survive for many weeks in the semen of infected males, making sexual transmission of Zika virus disease possible,” the Ministry of Health added.