Zika virus linked with man’s brain infection, coma

CORRECTS CDC IS INVESTIGATING WHETHER AEDES ALBOPICTUS SPREADS THE ZIKA VIRUS, NOT DEFINITIVE - This 2003 photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes albopictus mosquito acquiring a blood meal from a human host. On Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, U.S. health officials are telling pregnant women to avoid travel to Latin America and Caribbean countries with outbreaks of a tropical illness linked to birth defects. The Zika virus is spread through mosquito bites from Aedes aegypti and the CDC is investigating whether it is also spread by Aedes albopictus. The disease causes only a mild illness in most people. But theres been mounting evidence linking the virus to a surge of a rare birth defect in Brazil. (James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP)

An elderly French man who caught the Zika virus while on vacation developed a brain infection that put him in a temporary coma, according to a new report of the case.

The 81-year-old man had been healthy before he went on a cruise to the South Pacific — one of the regions where the Zika virus is spreading.

Ten days after he returned home, he was admitted to the intensive care unit in a coma. The man had a fever, and later developed a rash — both symptoms of Zika virus infection.

Brains scans showed that the man had a condition called meningoencephalitis, which is inflammation in the brain and the meninges, or the membranes surrounding the brain. A test of the man's cerebrospinal fluid was positive for Zika virus.

Zika virus has garnered international concern because of the strong link between infection with the virus in pregnancy and microcephaly, a birth defect in which a child's head is abnormally small.

But doctors should also "be aware that ZIKV may [be] associated with meningoencephalitis," the researchers said, referring to Zika virus. [5 Things to Know About Zika Virus]

The man spontaneously awoke from his coma after one day in the hospital, but he had hallucinations and weakness in his left arm. However, his condition improved without a specific treatment, and he was released from the hospital after 17 days and fully recovered after 38 days, the researchers said.

Zika virus has also been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition of the nervous system that can cause paralysis.

The study is published today (March 9) in the New England Journal of Medicine. It was conducted by researchers at the Paris hospital system Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris.