Patient with suspected ‘Hanta virus' dead

November 03, 2011 10:51 am | Updated 10:51 am IST - HYDERABAD:

A patient suspected to be afflicted with ‘Hanta virus' and described as the first case of the virus in the State, died in a private hospital here on Wednesday morning. However, the medical and health department officials refused to treat it as a case of ‘Hanta virus' till the test reports authenticating the same were received.

Based on the tests on samples conducted by a Mumbai-based laboratory, Yashoda Hospital, a few days ago here, had announced that the patient, Bhagawan Rao (52) of Chityalapalli in Karimnagar, was a victim of the new virus which spreads through rodents' faeces, urine or saliva.

On the other hand, the health authorities said they were awaiting the results of serum samples sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, before they could confirm it to be a case of ‘Hanta virus'. “We can't go by reports from a private laboratory,” said District Medical and Health Officer G. Srinivasulu.

‘Rarest of rare’

Without proper authentication, an unnecessary panic should not be spread about the virus, he cautioned while describing the virus as “rarest of the rare”.

The patient at Yashoda Hospital had exhibited symptoms of dengue fever and later developed cardiac arrest and kidney failure.

The hospital had announced to the media on Friday that this was the first time the virus was detected in the State and the tests conducted on his samples at a laboratory in Mumbai confirmed ‘Hanta virus'. Dr. Srinivasulu also said the virus does not transmit from human contact.

One should check the presence of rodents at homes and in case of rats roaming around, chlorine solution can be prepared by mixing bleaching powder with water and the upper layer of the solution sprayed.

Accredited lab

Meanwhile, Dr. M.V. Rao, Senior General Physician at Yashoda Hospitals, said the report on Bhagwan Rao confirming the ‘Hanta virus' was given by Metropolis Laboratory which is a National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited lab.

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