GBS in India is not quite uncommon. Monojit Debnath and Madhu Nagappa from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurology Bangalore (Nimhans) studied 150 GBS patients for a five -year period between 2014 to 2019.
Their conclusions showed that 79% of patients had evidence of previous infections, with the third test positive for Campylobacter. In particular, joint infections were more common, occurred in 65%, indicating the complex interaction of bacteria and viruses.
Most recently, the outbreaks related to the pathogen have been reported. In the first seven months 2023 reports Peru More than 200 suspects and at least four GBS deaths. externalPushing the government to declare a national emergency and strengthen health care measures. Two -thirds of the cases were associated with Campylobacter.
In countries with good hygiene, less GB cases are associated with Campylobacter, and respiratory infections are the main participant, experts say. There were other triggers. In 2015, Brazil reported the cluster of GBS cases associated with Zika virus. Vaccines can rarely cause GBS but as reported Several hundred cases of GBS in the UK. external In 2021.
“Campylobacter is an endemic with hundreds of thousands of cases that occur all the time. It always exists in the environment,” Hugh Willison, Professor of Neurology at the University of Glasga, told me.
However, scientists say it is not easy to develop GBS.
There is a specific Campylobacter strain that has an outer layer with sugar, and in rare cases, its molecular structure corresponds to the coating of the human nerve cells.
If the patient’s immune system attacks bacteria, it can also focus on the nerves – a process called molecular mimicry – which will lead to GBS. However, a small part of Campylobacter strains has this nervous coat.
“In Pune, the Campylobacter strain with this molecular feature will probably spread, and thus this strain with this strain leads to more cases of GBS,” says Professor Willison.
