Mumbai reports first fatality due to Guillain-Barré Syndrome

A 53-year-old man has died of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) at a hospital in Mumbai, the first fatality here due to the nerve disorder, officials said on Wednesday.

The patient, resident of Mumbai’s Wadala area and working as a ward boy in a civic-run hospital, had sometime back visited Pune, which has witnessed the GBS outbreak, they said.

He was admitted to another civic-run hospital here on January 23. The man was in a critical condition for several days and died on Tuesday, the officials said.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner and its state-appointed administrator Bhushan Gagrani confirmed to PTI that it is the first death in the metropolis due to the GBS.

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.

The patient was admitted to the Nair Hospital on January 23, following complaints of weakness in legs.

He was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and put on ventilator as he was facing breathlessness and in view of his critical condition, a BMC release said.

“The patient was detected with GBS and was given the necessary treatment for it,” the release stated.

“Sixteen days before being admitted to the hospital, the patient had visited Pune,” which has witnessed a large number of GBS cases, it said.

The patient had not shown symptoms like fever and diarrhoea, the civic body said.

Meanwhile, a 16-year-old girl from neighbouring Palghar district is currently undergoing treatment for GBS at the Nair Hospital, the BMC said.

All hospitals and medical colleges in Mumbai were prepared for the treatment of GBS patients. The necessary medicines, equipment and expertise were available in the city, it added.

Mumbai reported its first case of GBS on February 7 after a 64-year-old woman, resident of Andheri (East), was diagnosed with the nerve disorder, officials earlier said.

The Pune region has so far reported seven deaths suspected to have been caused by the GBS.

The tally of suspected and confirmed GBS cases in Pune region on Tuesday reached 197, according to health department officials.