In an alarming incident, a 17-year-old boy Aritra Mandal has died while undergoing a treatment of systems akin to Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS). Mandal, who is a resident of Aam Danga in North 24 Parganas district, died on January 27.
As per the information, he was facing symptoms similar to the GBS for several days and was admitted to Neel Ratan Sarkar Medical College on January 23 for treatment. Meanwhile, the death certificate has also surfaced which mentions Guillain Barre Syndrome as the suspected cause of death.
This came amid the state health department's claim that there was no rise in the cases of GBS from the end of December till today (January 28). The West Bengal Health and Family Welfare Department issued an official statement which reads, "Guillain-Baree Syndrome is not a new or rare kind of disease. Sporadic cases continue to occur in our country and state. It is one of the diseases causing Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) which is monitored in children below the age of 15 years as a part of Polio Surveillance. Got the information from NPSP (WHO) that there has been no increase of AFP or GB Syndrome in West Bengal since the end of December till date."
GBS cases in Maharashtra
Notably, the GBS has caused significant alarm in Maharashtra's Pune, Solapur and Nagpur. At present 110 active cases are being treated in the state. Meanwhile, in Solapur a man aged 40 years is suspected to have died due to GBS, marking the first casualty reported due to this rare disease.
As of January 27, the total number of GBS cases recorded in Maharashtra's Pune was 111. On Monday, Maharashtra Health Minister Prakash Abitkar said that 17 patients diagnosed with GB syndrome were put on ventilators. As the number of patients affected by GBS rises, the civic body in Pune has set up a special ward in municipality-run Kamala Nehru hospital, with 45 beddings, to provide treatment to affected patients, following one reported death.
(Reported by: Onkar)