The relatives of a 22-year-old cane cutter from East Canje, Berbice who was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder said to be associated in some countries with the mosquito-borne Zika virus are seeking the public’s help for his treatment.
Speaking with Stabroek News via telephone, the man’s father Surindra Ramcharitar related that his son, Pooran Ramcharitar remains a patient of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital, on a ventilator. He has been there for almost two weeks, since being diagnosed with the condition.
Recounting the series of events that led to his son being hospitalized, the man said it all started about three weeks ago, when the young man returned home from work complaining about pain in his ankle. From that day onwards, he said, the pain started to spread to other sections of his son’s lower body with the last symptom experienced being a feeling of numbness in his body.
But even after receiving treatment from the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital on two occasions, the pain persisted which resulted in a decision being made to take the cane cutter to a private hospital right in Berbice for further treatment.
The father explained that it was after undergoing several tests at the private institution that doctors diagnosed his son with the neurological disorder Guillain-Barre.
Following the diagnosis, Ramcharitar said, doctors advised that his son be would have to be placed on a ventilator, since he had started having difficulty breathing. However, because of the cost of having this done, a request was made to have the young man transferred to the GPHC.
While there, the young man underwent additional tests which later confirmed the diagnosis given by the private hospital.
Asked whether his son was ever tested for the Zika virus, Ramcharitar said no since the young man never contracted the virus.
Nevertheless, he said that at present the GPHC does not have the drugs needed to treat the condition, which has placed him in a situation where he has to raise approximately $1.1 million for the purchase of several bottles of haemoglobin injections, said to be the recommended treatment of Guillain-Barre.
He said he has to purchase 35 bottles of the required medication from a pharmacy at an individual cost of $110,000, and a total of $2,625,000. However, Ramcharitar explained, they have managed to raise a little more than half of the total amount. The remaining $1.1 million poses a challenge as money is constantly being spent on transportation to and from Canje on a daily basis to visit his son at the GPHC.
“I’m begging for assistance from the public and the government to please help my son,” he said adding that the young Ramcharitar continues to experience severe pain and numbness of the body. Persons desirous of assisting the Ramcharitar family can make contact on telephone numbers 326-1203 or 652-7044.
Attempts by Stabroek News to contact Minister of Public Health Dr George Norton and Chief Medical Officer Dr Shamdeo Persaud to ascertain whether the case could be linked to the Zika Virus proved futile.
Guillain-Barre syndrome is an autoimmune disorder that is said to be linked in several countries to the Zika virus and works by attacking the peripheral nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, causing temporary paralysis that can in some cases require patients to rely on respirators for breathing.
During the acute phase, the disorder can be life-threatening with about a quarter developing weakness of the breathing muscles while some are affected by changes in the function of the autonomic nervous system, which can lead to dangerous abnormalities in heart rate and blood pressure. Colombia and Venezuela have seen an increase in such cases.
