A person suspected to have Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, has died in Maharashtra’s Solapur, PTI quoted health officials as saying. In addition to the Solapur case, the Maharashtra health department has identified 18 more suspected Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) cases across Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Pune rural, and nearby districts. Of the 101 patients currently receiving treatment at various hospitals, 16 are on ventilator support.
Among them, 68 are men, and 33 are women. A team of central health officials is scheduled to visit Pune on Monday to assess the situation, The Indian Express reported.
A breakdown of the patients’ ages reveals that 19 are under 9 years old, 15 are between 10-19 years, 20 are in the 20-29 range, 13 in the 30-39 range, 12 are 40-49 years old, 13 are 50-59 years old, 8 are between 60-69, and 1 patient is between 70-80 years old.
Out of the 101 patients, 81 are from the Pune Municipal Corporation area, 14 from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, and 6 from other districts. The cases emerged after hospitals started reporting GBS patients, mainly from Sinhagad Road, Khadakwasla, Dhayari, Kirkatwadi, and nearby locations.
Concerned about potential contamination, the health department has sent water samples from various parts of Pune for chemical and biological testing. Early in the outbreak, 23 blood samples were collected and sent to the ICMR-National Institute of Virology, all of which tested negative for dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. However, 9 out of 11 stool samples from GBS patients tested positive for norovirus, and 3 of these also showed signs of Campylobacter Jejuni bacterial infection.