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Mumbai: The toll from suspected Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) infection has mounted to four in Maharashtra compounding concerns, however, health experts and the government said that there is nothing to worry but precautions need to be taken.
The lion’s share of the GBS cases are from Pune, the cultural capital of the state and the industry and IT hub.
According to the Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme of the Public Health Department of Maharashtra government, the total number deaths stands at 4.
“A total of 140 suspected patients and 4 suspected deaths of GBS have been found until now. Of these 98 are diagnosed as confirmed GBS cases,” officials said on Friday evening.
Eighteen patients are on ventilators.
The Health department said that 26 patients are from Pune Municipal Corporation area, 78 from newly added villages in PMC area, 15 from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation area, 10 from Pune Rural and 11 are from other districts.
A state-level rapid response team visited the affected area immediately
PMC and rural district authorities have been instructed to increase surveillance activities.
Around 160 water samples from different parts of the city have been sent for chemical and biological analysis to the Public Health Laboratory, samples from 8 water sources found contaminated.
“Citizens should not panic – the state’s health department is prepared to implement preventive and control measures,” the Health department said.
An appeal has been made to the private medical practitioners to notify any GBS patient of the respective public health authorities.