Getting paralysed after COVID: Guillain–Barre syndrome

Abstract

Neurological involvement after coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pneumonias is common and occurs in almost one-third of the patients. The commonest neurological symptoms are ageusia, anosmia, headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and myalgia. Guillain–Barre syndrome (GBS) is a rare manifestation of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection; whereas the common neurological manifestations of the SARS-CoV-2 infection occur with the onset of the respiratory symptoms and may be due to the direct invasion of the nervous system by the virus, GBS in COVID-19 follows a time lag of 1–4 weeks and may be attributable to the immune mechanism of molecular mimicry. Here we report a case of GBS in a patient of COVID-19 which occurred on the 22nd day after the onset of the disease. The patient recovered completely and went home walking.

Keywords

• covid-19
• guillain-barre syndrome
• sars-cov-2