KOZHIKODE: In the first phase of the war against Nipah, the Health Department lost a fighter in the battlefield. But it saved another person from the jaws of Nipah. When Lini Puthusseri succumbed to Nipah, fear gripped the department. But the confidence of both the authorities and the people shot up after a second-year general nursing student Ajanya M escaped the clutches of the virus.
She underwent treatment at the Institute of Chest Medicine, Kozhikode. K P Suraj, professor in the department, said she was critically affected with the disease.“The patient had encephalitis, myocarditis and acute respiratory distress syndrome. She was admitted to the isolation ward on May 19 and her condition was very unstable. However, she responded well to Ribavirin,” he said.
The medical experts from the hospital had requested two pharmaceutical companies, which produces Ribavirin in India, to provide the medicine from Malaysia at the earliest.It was administered to Ajanya and within two or three days she showed positive signs. “Her heartbeat increased several times and her condition had become unstable. The effects of encephalitis continued for some days. After a week, the condition became normal,” the doctor said.
Ajanya said while she underwent treatment she did not know the severity of the disease. “I had asked a doctor about my disease and he said it is Nipah. But did not explain much about the disease,” she said. She was affected with the virus when Sabith, the index case, was admitted to MCH casualty.
HC lauds health workers for containing Nipah outbreak
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday appreciated the efforts of the Central and state governments in effectively containing the Nipah virus outbreak. The court also lauded the medical officers, nurses and other medical staff involved in tackling the issue. The court made the observation while closing the petition filed by two students from Kochi seeking a directive to remove the video clippings uploaded by Mohanan Vaidyan of Cherthala and Jacob Vadakanchery of Kochi containing misleading information about Nipah virus from social media and YouTube. The Bench headed by acting Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy observed that the medical officers and other medical staff had responded quickly, made all efforts to contain the virus outbreak effectively and had even gone beyond their call of duties.