Role of infection in the Guillain-Barre syndrome

There are two main hypotheses concerning the aetiology of the Guillain-Barre syndrome. First, that it is a primary virus infection, and, secondly, that it is a form of 'neuro-allergy ' (Furtado, 1950) with the allergic state resulting from either an antecedent illness (usually a virus disease) or an immunizing injection. The terms 'acute infectious polyneuritis' and 'acute post-infective polyneuritis ' exemplify these two contrasting views. This paper reports the results of experiments designed to identify a specific virus and also to present fresh evidence concerning the importance of antecedent infections. Special attention is given to infections of the respiratory tract. As there is no other agreed title which adequately