Karnataka On High Alert For Guillain-Barre Syndrome After Cases of Diarrhoea Increase Significantly; How Are The Two Related?

Karnataka’s Health Department has sounded a high alert in two villages after some pilgrims, returning from the neighbouring Maharashtra, complained of sudden illness and were hospitalised. Officials said due to an outbreak of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in Maharashtra, the ailing pilgrims could be suspected cases and have been kept under observation.

All those who are sick have reported symptoms of diarrhoea, according to the Economic Times.

Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said despite the cases, there is no need for worry, adding that his department is fully geared to tackle any emergency. Rao said out of 60 pilgrims who returned from Pundharpur in Maharashtra, 33 are in hospitals, and their blood samples have been sent for further diagnosis.

Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare autoimmune condition in which your immune system attacks your peripheral nervous system, leading to symptoms like numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness that prog to paralysis. However, according to experts, treatment can make most people fully recover from the condition. According to doctors, GBS can occur at any age, but it most commonly affects people between 30 and 50 years of age.

Harsh Gupta, principal secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department, Karnataka, said precautionary steps are being taken to control any potential spread of the condition.

Doctors say recurrent diarrhoea is a big risk factor for GBS, as more than two-thirds of people who end up with the condition have reported loose or watery stools, abdominal pain, and nausea within a few weeks of developing symptoms.

GBS is triggered by the bacterium Campylobacter jejuni, which also leads to gastroenteritis, the flu, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, and Zika virus.

Experts say GBS affects your peripheral nerves, which control muscle movement, pain signals, temperature, and touch sensations. Thus, GBS causes issues related to these functions. And so, the first GBS symptoms include muscle weakness or tingling sensations, which typically come on suddenly. They also affect both sides of your body, starting in your feet and legs and spreading 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 or legs
• Paralysis of your legs, arms, and facial muscles
• Weakness in your chest muscles, which makes it difficult to breathe
• Difficulty speaking and swallowing
• Difficulty moving your eyes and vision issues

The symptoms of GBS can 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% of people are at their weakest.

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