A 14-year-old boy from Kerala’s Malappuram who tested for Nipah virus has died.
The boy was admitted to Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode where he died on Sunday.
The boy initially admitted to a private hospital and was moved to the government hospital after a test on Saturday confirmed he was infected by Nipah virus. He was on life support system.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George told ANI that seven samples were tested on Sunday but all of them turned out to be negative.
George said that a total of 330 people are in the teen’s contact list and six of them were in his direct contact.
The Nipah virus is understood to be a zoonotic virus, which means it spreads from animals to humans. The most common carriers of the virus are bats but it can also spread from pigs, horses, goats, sheep, cats, and dogs. It can spread through their urine, saliva, blood, etc. Food contaminated with these things may also be a carrier. It can also spread from an infected to human to another through bodily fluids like blood, urine, and nasal or respiratory droplets.
‘All efforts made to save life’
George said that all efforts were made to save teen’s life.
George told the media in Malappuram that the teen had a cardiac arrest at 10.50 am and that he was declared dead at 11.30 am.
“All efforts were made to save his life. Doses of monoclonal antibodies were brought from NIV-Pune on Sunday. A medical board had met on Sunday for administering the antibodies,” said George, as per The Indian Express.
George further said that four in the deceased’s contact list have developed symptoms and one of them is critical and remains on life support.
“One of them is critical and on life support… Although the government medical college hospital in Kozhikode and Virology Lab in Thiruvananthapuram have the facility for testing the samples, a mobile lab from NIV-Pune will be brought to Malappuram for testing. Samples of all those in the high-risk category will be tested,” said George, as per the newspaper.
5th Nipah outbreak in Kerala
In recent years, Kerala has reported multiple Nipah virus outbreaks.
Since 2018, Kerala has reported five outbreaks, as per a report in Business Standard.
The report said the first viral outbreak in 2018 killed 17 people whereas only one infection was reported in the second in 2019. The report said that one person died in the outbreak in 2022 in Kozhikode where two more were killed in another outbreak in 2023. Four more were infected in the outbreak.
Following the latest outbreak, the Centre has rushed a ‘One Health’ outbreak response team to Kerala to probe the latest Nipah virus outbreak, according to The Express.
The Express reported that the ‘One Health’ team that the Centre has rushed to Kerala will identify epidemiological linkages and provide technical assistance to the Kerala government. So far, the Centre has urged the state government to actively trace contracts of the deceased in neighbouring areas in the past 12 days and areas with similar topography, as per the paper.
The Centre has advised strict quarantine of the contacts and isolation of those suspected to have been infected, according to the paper.
Link to article –
Kerala teen who tested for Nipah virus dies, 4 in his contact list develop symptoms
