Two more tested negative for Nipah

June 08, 2019 02:15 pm | Updated 02:23 pm IST - KOCHI

Health officials in protective gear at an isolation ward of the Government Medical College, Ernakulam, on Thursday where suspected Nipah cases have been admitted. Thulasi Kakkat

Health officials in protective gear at an isolation ward of the Government Medical College, Ernakulam, on Thursday where suspected Nipah cases have been admitted. Thulasi Kakkat

Further assuaging the anxiety of authorities and the general public, two more suspected cases were tested negative for Nipah thus clearing nine persons of infection ever since a youngster from North Paravur was confirmed to have infected with the virus on June 4.

At present, ten persons remain admitted to the isolation ward of the Ernakulam Government Medical College Hospital after three more persons were brought in with symptoms of Nipah late on Friday night. Out of these, all except one have been cleared. The result of one patient is being awaited.

One more addition to the isolation ward seems likely later in the day with efforts being underway for shifting a patient with symptoms suspected of Nipah from a private hospital in North Paravur. The condition of the youngster who was tested positive for Nipah, however, continues to remain stable.

Sanitisation drive underway

The core committee spearheading the anti-Nipah drive met to take stock of the situation at the district collectorate on Saturday morning. Education Minister C. Ravindranath presided. The meeting decided to continue to keep apace the drive with focus on prevention and treatment.

An expert team from the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) continues to camp at the Government Medical College Hospital and undertake examination of the lab and sanitisation drive.

A three member team from NIV comprising of Dr. Sudeep, Dr. Gokhale and Dr. Balasubramanyam visited Vadakkekkara in North Paravur to identify areas for the study of bats. The technical team formed for the study will start operating today. A team from the forest department led by Arun Zachariah will also participate in the endeavour.

Monitoring of private hospitals

Four teams have been deployed for the monitoring of private hospitals. The teams had so far visited 63 hospitals, including 18 on Friday alone.

The health department is keeping a close watch over 52 persons who had come in contact with the Nipah-inflicted patient and were subsequently classified as high-risk category. They were among the 318 persons traced to have contact with the affected youngster. Among them 260 have been classified as low-risk category.

Those who had come into contact with the bodily fluids of the affected patient or had been with him for not less than 12 hours were considered as high risk category. Meanwhile, the health department continues its efforts to trace the origin of the virus.

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