Guillain-Barré Syndrome and Virus of Influenza A (Asian Strain)

Neurological Complications of So-called "Influenza": A Winter Study in South-east Wales

“…The first was neurological. Myelopathy is an uncommon disease: in this subregion of Wales in 1957 only 2 out of 13 neurological cases associated with Asian influenza had signs of myelopathy (McConkey and Daws, 1958; Wells, James, and Evans, 1959); and during the 1962 smallpox epidemic, out of 20 cases with central nervous disorder which followed 800,000 vaccinations only one had transverse myelopathy (Spillane and Wells, 1964).…”

The Complications of Influenza

“…Thirdly, Guillain-Barre syndrome certainly has no specific relation to influenza and may indeed have an origin in autoimmunization. Nevertheless, Wells, James and Evans (1959) recovered influenza virus from the CSF taken at autopsy in two fatal cases occurring in Cardiff in 1957. I find the whole question of virus recovery from post-mortem specimens difficult to evaluate unless the brain is opened prior to the examination of the thorax.…”