Guatemala, on alert for a 'health outbreak' that causes paralysis and can be fatal

William Chávez, 63 years old, is one of the 72 confirmed cases in Guatemala with Guillain Barré Syndrome (GBS), a disease that left him unable to walk and that has kept the Health authorities and the population on alert for a month.

The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS) has registered close to one hundred cases – between confirmed and suspected – of this disorder so far this year, close to a third of the between 300 and 400 that usually occur annually in the country. Central American country.

According to these data, patients with this rare disease in which a person's immune system damages their neurons are mainly concentrated in three of the 22 departments of Guatemala: Suchitepéquez, Retalhuleu and Sololá, in the southwest of the country.

This forced the MSPAS to issue an alert a month ago in Suchitepéquez, the place where the most cases have been reported, and where in-person classes were even suspended in schools in the area for 20 days, resuming them at the end of this week.

Chávez is a retired teacher who sells used American shoes and clothing.

He lives in Cuyotenango, a municipality of Suchitepéquez.

“Two months ago I started.

I had diarrhea for eight days, then my legs and hands became watery and I fell to the ground.

Days before, I felt a tingling in my hands and face, and since that date I have been unable to do so,” he told EL PAÍS by telephone.

At the beginning of the illness, Chávez went to the Guatemalan Social Security Institute where he is affiliated, but he said that they did not find any answer to his condition, so he went to a private clinic where the doctor diagnosed him with GBS.

Since then, he has been injected with nerve medication, uses a wheelchair and attends therapy twice a week to regain mobility in his legs.

“This outbreak is the first time it has existed.

The epidemiological alert is national in scope.

The cases are concentrated in Suchitepéquez, Retalhuleu and the Sololá coast.

There are 72 confirmed cases, 5 deaths, including a minor, and 12 suspected cases,” Edgar Santos, director of Epidemiology at the Ministry, explained to EL PAÍS.

According to the official website of the World Health Organization (WHO), in Guillain Barré syndrome, the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system, which can affect the nerves that control muscle movements, as well as those that They transmit painful, thermal and tactile sensations.

This can cause muscle weakness, loss of sensation in the extremities, and problems swallowing or breathing.

It is more common in adult men.

The origin of the disease is not known with certainty, but a bacteria that causes gastroenteritis is suspected, although it can also be contracted after the flu or other viral conditions or Zika.

Contaminated water

Chávez commented that the neighbors suspect that the water they use in the town may be the cause of the disease because it is not drinkable.

This coincides with a note published this week by a local newspaper that stated that the water in Cuyotenango tested positive for fecal contamination and other microorganisms, in two of the six samples taken by the Health authorities.

At the beginning of the month, it was also suspected that chicken entering through 'contraband' could be a transmitter of the SGB, so the Superintendence of Tax Administration increased operations to reduce the entry of the product.

The hypothesis was not confirmed.

The Ministry has recommended that Guatemalans not be alarmed because the disease is not contagious and because they assure that it is not an epidemic but a 'specific health outbreak'.

As for the three southwestern regions where there are the most cases, the recommendations, according to the epidemiologist, are to wash your hands well, boil the water or chlorinate it, and prepare food hygienically.

“We could see a decrease in cases, but we cannot be confident.

“We continue working,” said Santos.

Meanwhile, Chávez was told by his doctor that recovery could last between 8 to 10 months.

Guatemala is a country with precarious hospital services and without an efficient health network to face epidemics or outbreaks.

During the coronavirus pandemic, it had one of the slowest processes for vaccination in the Central American region.

It registered 1.2 million infections and 20,283 deaths.

The Ministry of Health is awaiting the results of four more analyzes of the water in Cuyotenango to be certain about the contamination and the possible cause of Guillain Barré Syndrome.

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