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PUNE: A 41-year-old chartered accountant working in Pune was identified Monday as the first casualty of the Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) outbreak concentrated in the city, a day after the Maharashtra health department reported that a patient who died in a Solapur hospital on Jan 25 was “suspected” to have contracted the rare but treatable infection.
“It’s a confirmed GBS case,” state health minister Prakash Abitkar told reporters at a presser.
Pune’s GBS caseload has spiralled to 111 in less than three weeks since the cluster formed on Jan 9. Till Sunday, the count was 101. At least 17 of the patients are on ventilator support, while seven have been discharged, Abitkar said.
Sources said the Centre had dispatched a high-level multi-disciplinary team to review Pune’s GBS surge and help the state implement public health measures. The team comprises experts from Delhi and Bengaluru.
The family of the deceased said that on Jan 9, he had a bout of diarrhoea, for which he took over-the-counter medication. On Jan 14, he, along with his family, left for their hometown Solapur.
“He felt better after medication. He even drove to Solapur. On Jan 17, he began to feel weak again. The next day, we admitted him to hospital,” a relative said.
At the hospital, the CA was in ICU for nearly six days before recovering enough to be moved to the general ward. “However, his condition suddenly slipped and he died late Saturday,” the relative said.
Doctors said the patient was admitted with severe weakness and paralysis. “We immediately administered nerve-conduction tests and zeroed in on GBS. Accordingly, we began treatment per protocol. He responded well initially but his condition worsened again, characterised by weakness in the limbs and total paralysis,” a doctor at the hospital said.
Dr Sanjeev Thakur, dean of Solapur’s Vaishampayan Medical College, said the GBS victim’s cerebrospinal fluid, nerve tissue and organs have been sent for tests. “We are going to carry out the tests of fluids to look for infections that likely triggered GBS. We should have results in 7-8 days.”
In the Pune cluster, experts have found the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni and norovirus in samples.
Dr Rakhi Mane, head of Solapur Municipal Corporation’s health department, said a review of patient records showed the deceased was administered a five-day course of immunoglobulin injections.
