In the wake of the Statewide alert against Nipah, two youth, who reported at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Thiruvananthapuram, on Thursday with fever, headache, and with a history of travel to Ernakulam in the past two weeks, are currently isolated and under observation at the hospital.
The youths, an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old, from Kadakkal and Kalliyoor respectively in Thiruvananthapuram district, had reported at the MCH with fever and headache.
Their symptoms are not suggestive of Nipah but as per the current State guidelines, any fever patient from or with a travel history to Ernakulam, Idukki, and Thrissur have to be isolated and kept under observation. Their throat swabs and other samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Alappuzha unit. As per the current protocol, they will be under observation for the next 48 hours or till the lab results come.
“The youths are not even on the suspected list as they have had no known contact with the lone Nipah-confirmed case or the current persons on the Nipah-suspects list. Both had just travelled for a day to Ernakulam within the last two weeks. They were isolated as a precautionary measure and as a test of our preparedness in the OP clinics,” senior doctors said.
Both are doing well at present. Though one of them was initially reported to be a bit disoriented, doctors said the youth had just had a panic or anxiety attack because of Nipah scaremongering in media. An infectious disease expert said the panic was unwarranted and that they did not expect any more positive cases in the current Nipah episode in State.
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