Pune driver latest GBS fatality, toll rises to 7; confirmed case tally at 167

Pune: A 37-year-old driver from Pune, diagnosed with the Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), has died in a Pune hospital, taking the toll of suspected and confirmed deaths linked to the nerve disorder here to seven.

The number of suspected GBS cases went up to 192 after eight more infections were recorded. The tally of confirmed cases stood on 167, while 21 patients were on ventilator support, as per authorities.

"The deceased worked as a driver in Pune. He was initially brought to a city-based hospital following complaints of weakness in the lower limbs," a Pune civic health official said on Monday.

His relatives didn't admit him to the Pune hospital and instead took him to Nipani in Karnataka on February 1.

He was subsequently admitted to a Sangli-based hospital by his relatives where he was administered IVIg (intravenous immunoglobulin) injections, a treatment for GBS, officials said.

"On February 5, the relatives of the patient took a discharge against the medical advice (from Sangli) and admitted him the same day in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Pune Municipal Corporation-run Kamala Nehru Hospital, according to officials.

The patient suffered supra-ventricular tachycardia, a heart rhythm disorder during treatment.

"He suffered a cardiac arrest on February 9 and died," an official said.

According to officials, of the 192 suspected cases, 167 patients were diagnosed with GBS.

Out of the 192 cases, 39 patients were from Pune Municipal Corporation areas, 91 from newly-added villages in the civic area, 29 from Pimpri Chinchwad civic body, 25 from Pune rural region and eight from other districts.

Among these cases, 91 patients have been discharged, 48 were in ICU and 21 on ventilator, according to a release from the state health department.