Pune: A 16-year-old tabla player from Jalna, who was the first reported Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) case in Pune’s Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, was discharged on Thursday after spending nearly two months on a ventilator. Despite leaving the hospital, his recovery remains incomplete — his limb power is still weak, and he cannot walk without assistance.
Another patient (25), who was discharged more than two months ago, still requires a feeding tube. “He has improved — he is walking — but he has not regained the ability to swallow,” said Dr Sudhir Kothari, neurologist at Poona Hospital. “Usually, GBS patients recover swallowing function but this has not happened yet.”
While the outbreak has ended in Pune, the impact lingers. Currently, 10 GBS patients remain on ventilators, and 16 are still in ICUs, according to the health department.
Dr Sameer Jog, consultant intensivist at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, said, “We have one patient still on a ventilator and two in the ICU, who are not on ventilators. Currently, we have five GBS admissions. Three patients, discharged nearly 20 days ago and able to walk in for follow-ups, still cannot swallow and rely on feeding tubes.”
He also spoke about the tabla player from Jalna, admitted on Jan 15 as the hospital’s first GBS patient in the outbreak. “He is a tabla player in a Pune gurukul. He was on a ventilator for nearly two months and was discharged only this Thursday. His limb strength has not returned fully, and he cannot walk without assistance,” Dr Jog said. He added that so far, 30 GBS patients have been discharged from the hospital.
Dr Ameet Dravid, infectious disease expert, Poona Hospital, told TOI, “I have a patient whose lower limb power is still weak, even though he was discharged two-and-a-half months ago. This is not entirely unusual, as GBS associated with Campylobacter jejuni is the axonal type — the most severe variant of GBS. It is well known that such patients take longer to recover.”
These patients may have residual neurological deficits, spend more time on a ventilator, and face complications, Dr Dravid said. “While this is documented in medical literature, it is still a difficult and prolonged recovery for patients. In this particular case, all other functions, including swallowing, have returned, but the lower limb weakness persists.”
Brigadier (retired) Dr S P Gorthi, professor and HoD, neurology, Bharati Hospital, said GBS is a condition where some patients take months to recover from weakness. While 80% may regain full function, 20% may continue to experience weakness for up to a year, he said. “Among the GBS patients from the recent outbreak (treated at our hospital), three-fourths have fully recovered. However, the remaining patients still have persistent weakness and fatigue.”
A Sassoon General Hospital official said they currently have four GBS patients admitted, with two of them still in the ICU. “One of them, a 22-year-old woman, has been hospitalised for two months. She was previously on a ventilator and is slowly regaining strength. Another patient, a 35-year-old man admitted eight days ago, remains in the ICU with paralysis affecting all four limbs and his face.”
