8 hours Ago
PUNE/CHENNAI: A 10-year-old boy who died at Chennai's Institute of Child Health on Jan 31 was Tuesday confirmed to be Tamil Nadu's first Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) victim, taking the number of casualties caused by the rare but treatable infection since last month to seven. Pune, which accounts for five of the GBS mortalities across the country, saw its caseload grow by three to 166 on a day the Maharashtra health department nailed the bacterium Campylobacter jejuni as the cause of the outbreak. It said the available evidence suggested transmission was primarily waterborne.
"Of the 70 stool samples collected from patients, 27 samples tested positive for C. jejuni, reinforcing suspicions that this bacterium contaminated drinking water in the affected region and was the cause of the outbreak," a senior health department official told TOI. "We do not believe this outbreak is foodborne.
If it were so, the outbreak would typically follow a point-source epidemic pattern. This means cases would be linked to a common food source, with a clear history of consumption from a specific place, and cases would appear within the expected incubation period." At least 87 cases were within a 5km radius of the contamination zone.
"Wells in the affected area receive untreated water from the Khadakwasla dam, which is then supplied directly to the community," the official said. Authorities have directed water supply department to ensure a minimum chlorine level of 0.2 ppm at all households.
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