Amid one death, 110 suspected cases of GBS, Maharashtra govt urges people not to panic

Citizens should also implement preventive measures, the government said in its appeal.

Mumbai: Days after the state reported the first death due to the Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), the Maharashtra government has appealed to the citizens not to panic and visit a government hospital in case any symptoms appear.

Citizens should also implement preventive measures, the government said in its appeal.

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According to the state public health department release issued late on Monday night, there are 110 suspected patients of GBS and one death has been reported until now.

Of these, eight have been diagnosed as confirmed GBS cases.

Of the 110 suspected patients, about 88 are from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), 15 from the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and seven are from other districts.

Out of this, 73 are men and 37 are women while 13 out of these are currently on ventilator.

Nine patients suspected of suffering from GBS were reported on Monday (January 27), of these, seven were from PMC, one from PCMC & one from other district.

A Pune-based Chartered Accountant from DSK Vishwa area in Dhayari died. He was suffering from diarrhoea for a few days and had gone to his native village from Solapur district for a private visit. After feeling extreme weakness, he was admitted to a private hospital in Solapur where the doctors diagnosed him with GBS.

He was shifted to the ICU for further treatment as he was unable to move his hands and legs.

After his health improved he was moved out of the ICU on Saturday but he faced breathing problems and later died. This was confirmed by the relatives of the deceased.

According to the public health department, GBS is an autoimmune disorder where the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system. It is characterised by muscle weakness, and in severe cases, paralysis.

The common symptoms of GBS include sudden weakness in hands or legs/paralysis, trouble while walking or weakness with sudden onset of diarrhoea for sustained periods.

The public health department said it has taken a slew of measures including visit by a state-level rapid response team to the affected area immediately, instructions to Pune Municipal Commissioner and rural district authorities to increase surveillance activities.

As many as 44 stool samples were sent to NIV Pune and tested for enteric virus panel. Moreover, 14 samples tested positive for Noro virus and five stool samples were positive for Campylobacter.

A total of 59 blood samples have been sent to NIV. All samples have tested negative for Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya.

About 34 water samples from different parts of the city have been sent for chemical and biological analysis to the Public Health Laboratory and samples from seven water sources were found contaminated.

Instructions have been given to increase health promotion activities and an appeal has been made to private medical practitioners to notify any GBS patient to the respective public health authorities.

“Citizens should not panic. The state’s health department is prepared to implement preventive and control measures. In house-to-house surveillance activities, 23,017 houses in Pune MC, 4,441 houses in PCMC and 7,610 houses in Pune rural areas have been surveyed (total 35,068),” said an officer from the state public health department.

The citizens have been urged to take every possible care to keep the water quality good, drink boiled water, keep food fresh and clean, avoid infection by not keeping cooked and uncooked food items together.