The number of confirmed cases of GBS stands at 177, of which 20 patients are on ventilator support, an official said. The death toll remained unchanged at eight.
Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) cases in Maharashtra have been on rise since the disease that attacks the peripheral nerves was detected. As of Friday, the tally of suspected and confirmed GBS cases in Maharashtra reached 205 with the detection of two more cases, a health official has said. The number of confirmed cases stands at 177, of which 20 patients are on ventilator support, he said on Thursday. The death toll remained unchanged at eight, said the official. Most of the cases in the state have been reported from Pune. A 53-year-old man has also died of GBS at a hospital in Mumbai, the first fatality in the city due to the nerve disorder, officials had said earlier.
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 arms, as well as problems swallowing or breathing The Pune Municipal Corporation has sealed 19 private RO plants in Nanded village area, the epicentre of the Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) outbreak, after tests confirmed water from these facilities was unfit for drinking, officials said. The now-sealed privately owned reverse-osmosis (RO) plants, located in Dhayari-Nanded area, supplied bottled water to a large number of people in the vicinity.
Following the crackdown, the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) water supply department announced plans to formulate standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent the distribution of contaminated water in the area. During the investigation of water samples collected from some privately run RO plants, it was found that water from 19 such RO plants operating in the Nanded and adjoining area was unfit for drinking. Accordingly, all these 19 RO plants were sealed and their functioning has been stopped,” PMC’s additional commissioner Prithviraj P B said.
