A 17-year-old who showed symptoms of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) has died at a Kolkata hospital, sources said.
The class 12 student from West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district died Monday morning at NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
According to hospital sources, the teenager died of septic shock and myocarditis, with doctors suspecting that GBS may have been the underlying condition. Investigations are ongoing to confirm the exact cause of death.
Two children from West Bengal, currently diagnosed with GBS, are on ventilator support at the Institute of Child Health in Kolkata. The first patient, an 8-year-old from Baguihati in North 24 Parganas, has been on ventilation for the past 12 days and is critically ill. The second patient, a 7-year-old from Dakshin Barasat in South 24 Parganas, who has been receiving treatment for 25 days, is showing slight improvement and can now speak.
“Symmetrical progressive muscle weakness usually starts from the lower limb and gradually involves the trunk and the upper part of body muscles. Presentation depends on which body parts are involved. First, there is difficulty in standing/sitting, and later breathing difficulty, swallowing problems, etc. The rapidity of progression varies from patient to patient. Older children can complain of tingling sensations, muscle pain, etc. Sometimes, the autonomic nervous system is also affected, presenting with fluctuations in blood pressure, heart rate, and others. In severe cases, there is respiratory failure due to muscle weakness and (the patient would) require ventilation for survival,” said Dr Somnath Gorain, a renowned pediatrician.
As per the figures available, of the 110 reported cases of the GBS in Maharashtra, 88 are from Pune, 15 are from Pimpri and the remaining seven are from other districts. Out of these reported cases, 73 are men and 37 are women. A total of 13 of them are currently on ventilators.
GBS is a neurological disorder that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system. While the exact cause is unknown, it is often preceded by an infection. Many GBS patients report having had a respiratory or gastrointestinal infection in the weeks before symptoms appear, with Covid-19 being one of the possible triggers.