Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) outbreak: 2 deaths reported in Kolkata
Times of India | 30 January 2025
KOLKATA: The report of the death of a 10-year-old suffering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome disease at Dr BC Roy Post Graduate Institute of Paediatric Sciences emerged on Wednesday, two days after the death of a suspected GBS patient dying at NRS Medical College Hospital on Monday.
According to sources, the child from Jagadal in North 24 Parganas died on Jan 26 after being on ventilation for a week. The other patient to die was a 17-year-old boy from Amdanga in North 24 Parganas.
Sources in the children's hospital said two more children were being treated for GBS - one from Malda and the other from Baduria, adding that a few cases in a tertiary care hospital are usual. A few other hospitals across the city currently have some stray cases or have treated one or two odd cases in the past month. Institute of Child Health (ICH), Kolkata, currently has three such children in its PICU, the third one being a six-year-old child from Maipith, admitted on Wednesday. The other two are an eight-year-old from Baguiati and a seven-year-old from Joynagar, under ventilation for 14 days and 27 days, respectively.
"GBS is an auto-inflammatory disease which triggers autoantibodies that lead to paralysis. The impact starts with the lower limbs and then goes up. The most dangerous is a paralysis of the respiratory muscles," said Prabhas Prasun Giri, PICU in-charge at ICH, Kolkata.
Medical College Hospital, Kolkata, has a nine-year-old girl from Chandernagore receiving treatment for GBS for close to three months. Even as the child's condition is improving, she remains on ventilation. "We usually see an average of 20 to 25 GBS cases every year. The prevalence remains the same this time so far. Unless we see a clustering of cases in a particular locality or a sharp rise from the prevalence rate, we cannot call it an outbreak or a surge," said Mihir Sarkar, paediatrics professor at Medical College, Kolkata.
While most cases are being reported among children, some hospitals have adult patients as well. "We have had two adult patients in the past month. We get between five to 10 such cases every year. So we have not come across any clustering of cases, but we are vigilant," said critical care specialist Tanmoy Banerjee of Medica Superspecialty Hospital.
"GBS is not contagious. It is a post-infective disorder - often viral or waterborne - where the body's immune response mistakenly targets the nerve cells. When we contract an infection, our immune system produces antibodies to fight it. However, in certain cases, these antibodies cross-react with the nerve cells, causing demyelination and nerve injury, which leads to GBS," said Amit Haldar, neurology director at Fortis Hospital Anandapur, who treated two GBS cases in January.
Health officials confirmed that there was no surge in cases and that some stray cases happen throughout the year.