Bhubaneswar: The state government has issued an alert to five medical colleges and 30 district headquarters hospitals in the wake of Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala.
In a letter to the medical authorities, the director of Health Services, Braja Kishore Brahma, underscored the need to take preventive measures against the deadly virus as treatment options were limited. Although no such case has been reported from any part of the state so far, the health department has asked hospitals to prepare themselves for contingencies.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, has already set up an isolated ward to admit patients afflicted
with the virus, its dean, Bikas Bhatia, said.
The health department also advised people to avoid consuming fruits that are half-eaten by bats or birds. It said that a detailed advisory, with preventive measures and common signs, would be issued soon. Nipah Virus is a zoonosis that causes severe disease in animals and humans. The symptoms that start appearing five to 14 days after infection include dizziness, headache, fever, nausea, drowsiness and confusion.
The World Health Organisation has named Nipah as one of the eight priority diseases that could cause a global epidemic, alongside the likes of Ebola and Zika.
The public health team constituted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), meanwhile, has issued guidelines to hospitals to ensure proper risk assessment and management of the infection.
In an, advisory the minister has asked hospitals to follow Intracranial Pressure (ICP) guidelines, use personal protection equipment (PPE) for health care workers and sample collection, assist in enhancing fever surveillance in the community, strengthen contact tracing in close contacts of cases, relatives, healthcare workers, ensure isolation facilities, ventilator support and infection control practices and coordinate with animal sectors & enhance surveillance for unusual illness and deaths in animals.
“This needs to be done to prevent the disease from spreading further, especially to those at high risk,” the ministry said.
Nipah toll rises
Kozhikode (Kerala): With the death of one more patient who tested positive for Nipah virus (NiV) Thursday, the disease has claimed 12 lives in Kerala, officials said. Meanwhile, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has written to the Queensland government in Australia asking it to provide an antibody developed there to test if it can “neutralise” the virus in humans. The antibody has not been tested on humans so far.
