First death of GBS case reported in Mumbai, eight in the state

MUMBAI: A 53-year-old man dies from Guillain-Barre syndrome, marking the first GBS death in the city. Maharashtra's GBS deaths now total eight.

MUMBAI: A 53-year-old man succumbed to the Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) at Nair Hospital on February 10, counting as the first death due to GBS in the city. With this, the total of GBS deaths in Maharashtra is up to eight.

First death of GBS case reported in Mumbai, eight in the state

The man was admitted to Nair Hospital on January 26 after weakness and symptoms of GBS were noticed. According to information put out by the BMC’s health department, he was kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and eventually put on a ventilator, as he began having breathing problems. The deceased was in Pune 16 days before he was admitted to hospital but the link between this and his illness is not certain.

Another patient, a 16-year-old girl from Palghar, is in Nair Hospital with suspected GBS. So far, there are a total of 203 suspected cases and 176 confirmed cases in the state, with eight deaths. Of the deaths, four are confirmed GBS deaths while the remaining four are suspected of being so.

Since the GBS virus has been linked to contaminated water supply, the state water supply and sanitation department on Wednesday instructed all gram panchayats (village councils) to supply purified water to the rural areas and start a water quality monitoring and surveillance program. The gram panchayats will have to submit samples of water from the functional household tap connection and the original water source and test them in a laboratory at least twice a year as well as clean all water sources regularly.