A 14-year-old boy in Malappuram, who tested positive for zoonotic Nipah virus (NiV) succumbed to the disease on Sunday, 21 July.
Published Jul 21, 2024 | 9:52 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 21, 2024 | 9:52 PM
Fruit bats (flying foxes) are considered to be the carriers of the Nipah virus in Kerala. ( Mini Anto Thettayil)
The Tamil Nadu government directed health officials on Sunday, 21 July to strengthen surveillance in districts bordering Kerala, after the Nipah virus was detected in the neighbouring state.
In an advisory, the Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine instructed the department officials to screen all symptomatic cases of Nipah, using protective equipment to prevent the spread of the infection to those administering the test.
The Deputy Director of Health Services has been instructed to strengthen the surveillance of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (fever with altered sensorium) after the death of a minor boy in Kerala.
Those cases admitted from the bordering districts of Kerala, especially Kozhikode and Malappuram, should be followed up, the advisory said.
Government and private hospitals should be alerted about the Nipah virus outbreak and health teams should be deployed at border check-posts round-the-clock to screen all symptomatic cases especially in the Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Theni, Tenkasi, and Kanniyakumari, the advisory said.
Stating that the Human Nipah virus (NiV) is an emerging zoonotic disease, the advisory said it was first recognised in Malaysia and Singapore in 1998.
In 2018, a major outbreak was reported in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts of Kerala with 18 confirmed cases and 17 persons dead.
The outbreak occurred during the months of winter to spring (December-May) and transmission of the Nipah virus to humans may occur after direct contact with infected bats, infected pigs or from other Nipah virus infected people. Fruit bats are the usual reservoir of the virus, and humans can become infected by accidentally consuming bat-contaminated fruits, it added.
Fever, altered mental status and severe weakness are some of the symptoms, and in general, the case fatality rate is estimated at 40-75 percent.
Currently there is no known treatment or vaccine available for either people or animals and intensive supportive care and addressing the symptoms are the main approaches to managing the infection in people, the advisory said.
A 14-year-old boy, a native of Pandikkad in the Malappuram district of Kerala, who tested positive for zoonotic Nipah virus (NiV) succumbed to the disease on Sunday, 21 July. He was being treated at Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode.
According to the doctors of the medical college hospital, the teen who was kept on ventilator support breathed his last at around 11.30 am on Sunday.
At around 10.50 am, the boy suffered a cardiac arrest which resulted in internal bleeding. His blood pressure went down and the doctors’ efforts to revive him did not succeed.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George had confirmed that the boy’s health deteriorated on Sunday morning leading to his death.
(Edited by Neena with PTI inputs)
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