World Health Organization on ground in Pune to help with Guillain-Barré Syndrome response

Pune: The World Health Organization is now working closely with Pune district administration as it responds to the surge in cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) in Pune city, its representatives told TOI over the weekend.
A WHO official said teams recently visited some of the city's affected areas and are now working with municipal officials to train health workers in "active case searches", to ensure every suspected case is "identified, diagnosed and treated".
"The WHO is providing technical and on-ground field support to district- and state-level teams to empower responders with adequate resources, training and support systems," said Dr Roderico H Ofrin, WHO representative to India, in an official statement.
Besides the training for health workers, WHO teams to Pune will help authorities analyse epidemiology and trends, including the preparation of a "spot map" showing geographical distribution of cases and an "epidemic curve" chart, to track GBS detections over time. They have also been conducting fieldwork to validate household visits by the health workers. So far, health workers responding to the GBS surge have surveyed more than 40,000 homes in Pune and another 11,000 in Pimpri Chinchwad, which has not reported a Pune city-like spurt in patients.
A senior official from Pune Municipal Corporation's health department said WHO personnel have also provided them with data on previous GBS surges, including the one in Peru, to ensure the necessary steps are taken to contain such an event.