Contaminated water likely to be source of GBS outbreak

Maharashtra health department, in its health bulletin, has started urging people to ensure they consume only treated or boiled water

Hyderabad: With new Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) cases getting reported daily, public health officials, immunologists and neurologists now suspect contaminated water as the most likely source for the outbreak. The possibility of contaminated water causing GBS cases should be concerning to devotees participating in the ongoing Mahakumbh in Prayagraj.

GBS is an auto-immune disease that can develop after viral or bacterial infection. When the body is infected, then the immune system produces antibodies to kill the bacteria. However, in a fraction of patients, the immune system malfunctions and attacks the body’s own nervous system, causing Gullean-Barre Syndrome.

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In Pune, the disease surveillance teams detected well-known bacteria Campylobacter jejuni that triggers the attack of GBS in patients.

“Campylobacter jejuni infection is either transmitted through infected food or water. Now, in Pune, 150 GBS patients have been diagnosed. To get 150 GBS infections, there should be at least 50,000 to 1,00,000 people who are infected with jejuni. Now, 1,00,000 infections through food contamination is not possible, unless they have consumed food in Mahakumbh. So the most likely source of infection could be water,” says senior neurologist from Hyderabad, Dr Sudhir Kumar.

Suspecting that water contamination could have been playing a major role in triggering the outbreak of the GBS cases, the Maharashtra health department, in its health bulletin, has also started urging people to ensure they consume only treated or boiled water.

Interacting with Telangana Today, Dr Sudhir Kumar, well-known for his public health advocacy on platform X (@hyderabaddoctor), points out that it is the responsibility of municipal authorities to provide clean potable water.

“Expecting poor people to boil water before consuming is quite unfair. Such families do not have access to resources even to boil. The only way to ensure no fresh cases are reported is to reduce infections and that will happen if the source is identified. The local municipal officials should ensure everybody has access to safe drinking water,” says Dr Sudhir.

 

Points to remember:

• Contaminated water could be triggering GBS cases
• Such large number of GBS cases from a specific location possible through contaminated water
• Lessons for municipal officials to ensure drinking water is treated in Hyderabad
• Families must consume treated/boiled water to avoid infections