Indore Water Contamination: What Is Guillain-Barré Syndrome After a Woman Shows Symptoms?

An elderly woman from Indore’s Bhagirathpura, where a diarrhoea outbreak triggered by contaminated drinking water caused the deaths of many people, has reportedly shown symptoms of Guillain-Barré Syndrome

(GBS) and is fighting for her life in a hospital. According to news reports, while the administration has rejected reports of any GBS case in the affected area, doctors say the tests conducted on the 67-year-old have indicated GBS-like symptoms. “However, when she was thoroughly examined at our hospital, it was found that she is also suffering from a brain stroke. Treatment is being administered based on all symptoms,” an unnamed official at the hospital told the Economic Times. Identified as Parvati Bai Kondla, the woman on a ventilator is undergoing dialysis due to kidney failure, and her nervous system is also failing. Reports say the administration has rejected media reports and claimed no GBS case has been found in Bhagirathpura. “We have not received information about any GBS patient from any local hospital or doctor,” said Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani, Chief Medical and Health Officer. However, Parvati's treating physician, Dr Rahul Karode, was quoted by NDTV, “She was admitted with acute gastroenteritis and kidney injury. Her blood pressure was very low. Loose motions improved, but reflexes were diminished. NCS showed changes consistent with GBS. We referred her because our hospital does not have advanced facilities. We informed the administration as per instructions.”

What happened in Indore?

Around 16 people have died in Indore, officially declared as India’s cleanest city, after consuming contaminated drinking water over the last week. According to news reports, more than 1,400 residents have fallen ill with severe cases of diarrhoea and vomiting, and several are still battling for life in hospitals.

What is Guillain-Barré syndrome?

Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare autoimmune condition in which your immune system attacks your peripheral nerves, leading to symptoms like numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness that progress to paralysis. However, with treatment, most people fully recover from the condition. Doctors say GBS occurs at any age, but it most commonly affects people between 30 and 50 years of age. Guillain-Barré syndrome is rare. About 100,000 people worldwide develop GBS every year. To put that into perspective, the world population is about 7.8 billion. That means healthcare providers diagnose GBS in about 1 in 78,000 people each year.

Signs and symptoms of GBS

Since GBS affects your peripheral nerves that control muscle movement, pain signals, and temperature and touch sensations, it causes issues that are related to these functions. The first symptoms of GBS are muscle weakness or tingling sensations, which usually affect both sides of your body and start in your feet and legs and spread up to your arms and face. Muscle weakness in your legs may make it difficult to walk or climb stairs. A few other symptoms include:

• Deep muscular pain in your back and legs
• Paralysis of your legs or arms
• Chest muscle weakness, making you breathless
• Difficulty speaking and swallowing
• Difficulty moving your eyes and vision issues.

According to doctors, the symptoms of GBS progress over hours, days, or a few weeks. Most people reach the most severe stage of weakness within the first two weeks after symptoms appear. By the third week, about 90 per cent of people are at their weakest.