Guillain-Barre Syndrome Outbreak in India – What You Need to Know
March 5, 2025
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India faces an outbreak of creeping paralysis, last month, a school teacher in the western Indian city of Pune found her six-year-old son upset about homework.
“I had erased some words and asked him to write them. I assumed he was angry and that’s why he was not holding the pencil properly,” she told the Indian Express newspaper.
She never imagined his struggle to hold a pencil was the first sign of Guillain-Barre’ Syndrome (GBS), a rare disorder where the immune system attacks nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and paralysis.
Within days, the boy was in intensive care, unable to move his arms or legs. As his condition worsened, he lost the ability to swallow, speak, and eventually breathe, requiring ventilator support. He is now recovering
The boy is among around 160 reported cases of GBS since early January in Pune. There have been five suspected deaths. Currently, in February 2025, 48 patients are in intensive care, 21 on ventilators, and 38 have been discharged, according to official figures.
The fatality counts due to suspected Guillain-Barre’ Syndrome (GBS) rose to 11 as of February 18, 2025 of these 4 deaths were confirmed as GBS and 7 were reported suspected deaths.
What is Guillain Barre’s Syndrome?
Is a rare neurological disorder in which a person’s immune system mistakenly attacks part of their peripheral nervous system- the network of nerves that carries signals from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. The disorder is life-threatening—potentially interfering with breathing, blood pressure, or heart rate.
The outbreak is being traced to a pathogen called Campylobacter jujuni, a common leading cause of foodborne infections, and the biggest driver of GBS worldwide. The link between the two was discovered in the 1990s in rural China, where the pathogen was common in chickens, and GBS outbreaks occurred every monsoon as children played in water contaminated by chicken or duck droppings.
The exact cause is not known. But two-thirds of people have symptoms of an infection in the six weeks before Guillain-Barre’s symptoms begin. Infections can include respiratory or gastrointestinal infections, including COVID-19.
Guillain-Barre Syndrome may be triggered by:
Most commonly, an infection with campylobacter, a type of bacteria often found in undercooked poultry
- Influenza virus
- Cytomegalovirus
- Epstein-Barr virus
- Hepatitis A, B, C and E
- HIV, the virus that causes AIDS
- Zika virus
- Mycoplasma Pneumonia
- Surgery
- Trauma
- Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Rarely, influenza vaccinations or childhood vaccinations
- COVID-19 virus
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