GBS is a rare condition in which a person's immune system attacks the peripheral nerves, resulting in muscle weakness, loss of sensation in the legs and/or arms, as well as problems swallowing or breathing
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The tally of suspected and confirmed Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) cases in Maharashtra reached 207 after two cases were detected on Friday, a health official said.
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According to news agency PTI, the confirmed cases stand at 180. Twenty patients are on ventilator support.
Meanwhile, though the official death toll remained unchanged at eight as per the state health department, a suspected fatality from GBS was reported from Kolhapur, PTI reported.
A district health official said a 60-year-old woman from Changid tehsil in Kolhapur died on Thursday.
"She was suffering from paralysis of the lower limbs and was first admitted in a hospital in Changid and then taken to neighbouring Karnataka. She was brought back to a hospital in Kolhapur on February 11, where she died two days later," the official said, according to PTI.
GBS is a rare condition in which a person's immune system attacks the peripheral nerves, resulting in muscle weakness, loss of sensation in the legs and/or arms, as well as problems swallowing or breathing.
On Monday, the state capital witnessed the first death caused by GBS this year when a 53-year-old man died during treatment at civic-run BL Nair Hospital in Mumbai Central. However, civic health department officials said that there is no need to panic as the GBS outbreak is reported every year. According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) health department, the patient was admitted to Nair Hospital with weakness in the lower extremities on January 23, around 16 days after he visited Pune. Doctors said he also suffered from high blood pressure.
The patient was a resident of F North ward, which covers Wadala and Sion. While he had visited Pune 16 days before admission to the hospital, it cannot be confirmed if he contracted GBS there.
“As the patient's condition was critical, he was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and was put on a ventilator owing to difficulty in breathing. He died at 11 pm on Monday,” said Dr Shailendra Mohite, the dean of Nair Hospital. “If anyone feels weakness, they should contact the BMC's medical facilities where we have expert doctors.”
According to Dr Mohite, the situation is not like the GBS outbreak in Pune. “We received GBS patients throughout the year and we treat them,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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