A year after GBS outbreak, PMC still falls short on water safety & hospital preparedness in affected areas | Pune News

Pune News : The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and hospitals appear to have drawn only limited lessons from the Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) outbreak, with systemic shortcomings continuing to persist even a year after the city endured one of the world’s worst GBS crisis.Although investigations have pointed to contaminated water as the probable cause of the outbreak, PMC has not yet set up a dedicated water treatment plant in the affected areas. Admitting the gap, Nandkishore Jagtap, chief engineer of PMC’s water supply department, said, “We have approached the Central Water and Power Research Station for permission to use a plot for the plant, but the approval is still awaited. Construction can begin once the clearance is granted.”Jagtap said the automation of chlorination had been rolled out across all water treatment plants, and water suppliers had been instructed to maintain safety standards. “PMC conducts regular random water sampling, which is tested at Parvati laboratory,” he said.He, however, acknowledged that water samples from RO suppliers were not currently being tested by the civic body. “PMC will soon invite tenders to enable testing of water samples through accredited third-party laboratories,” Jagtap said, adding, “We are also coordinating with the drainage and health departments to replace old sewage pipelines and test water samples in areas reporting rises in water-borne diseases.”PMC’s assistant health officer Dr Vaishali Jadhav said the corporation was training private hospitals to report any unusual increase in communicable diseases. “We are onboarding more hospitals with admission facilities to report sudden rise in water-borne or vector-borne infections. Around 50 more hospitals will be added soon,” she said, adding that the upcoming Metropolitan Surveillance Unit would significantly strengthen monitoring efforts.The outbreak had also exposed serious challenges faced by Pune hospitals, which struggled to manage a sudden surge of critically ill patients amid shortages of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) injections, delays in diagnostic testing and limited intensive care capacity.In response, Jupiter Hospital in Baner has launched a dedicated Guillain-Barré Syndrome clinic aimed at ensuring faster diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. The specialised unit promises to complete diagnostic tests within six hours and provide comprehensive care under one roof.Dr Rajas Deshpande, director of neurology at Jupiter Hospital, said the clinic addressed a major gap in structured GBS care. “GBS can progress very rapidly, and even brief delays in diagnosis can severely affect outcomes. This clinic creates a streamlined pathway for early detection, immediate treatment and close multidisciplinary monitoring,” he said.Reflecting on the outbreak, Dr HK Sale, chairperson of the Pune chapter of the Association of Hospitals, admitted that health hubs faced acute shortages of ICU beds and IVIG injections. “In such situations, govt must take responsibility for centrally stocking rare but critical drugs, so neither hospitals nor patients are left scrambling,” he said.Activist Abhijit More said the GBS outbreak, much like the Covid-19 pandemic, was a missed opportunity to strengthen healthcare systems. “Instead of fixing longstanding gaps in public and private healthcare, we appear to have regressed,” he said.