Nipah patient on recovery path

Of the second set of samples sent to Pune institute, only urine has traces of virus

The lone Nipah virus positive case, recuperating in a private hospital here, is recovering well, according to medical and diagnostic reports.

A health bulletin said that of the second set of blood, urine and throat swab samples sent for examination to National Institute of Virology, Pune, only the urine samples showed traces of the virus. The tests done at the Nipah detection facility at the Government Medical College, Ernakulam, also had provided similar results.

There are now seven patients in the isolation ward at the medical college hospital, including one who was brought from the Paravur taluk hospital on Sunday. Four were discharged on Saturday, and one on Sunday. A patient each at three private institutions in the district admitted with Nipah-like symptoms had tested negative.

329 persons traced

So far, 329 persons who had come in contact with the Nipah positive case have been traced in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. The 52 high-risk people among them are under strict observation. Those who had come in contact with the body fluids of Nipah positive person or had spent about 12 hours in the same room with the person are in the high-risk category.

Of the high-risk persons, 41 are in Ernakulam, one is in Alappuzha, three in Kollam, two in Thrissur, four in Malappuram, and one in Idukki. There are also 275 persons in the low-risk category who had some contact with the infected person, including those who had handled bed linen or clothes in the hospital.

The team of medical experts are also looking into the details of recent deaths caused by encephalitis – a viral infection in the brain. It has so far examined infection control activities in 73 hospitals. Deaths of 1,798 people registered in the past month are being examined.