Bringing huge relief to the state, two more suspected cases of Nipah turned out to be negative. Following this, 10 persons who were suspected of having contracted the infection have now been cleared.
As the health condition of four of the 11 persons kept in the isolation ward of Government Medical College, Kalamassery, improved significantly they have been discharged from the medical college hospital. Education Minister C Ravindranath on Saturday confirmed to reporters at the Ernakulam Civil Station that the four patients have been discharged while the condition of the seven remaining in the isolation ward is stable.
Health Minister K K Shailaja told reporters in New Delhi that out of the three persons admitted to the isolation ward at Kalamassery, two had tested negative while the test results of the third person are awaited. “Though the news brings relief to the state, we will continue to monitor the situation and continue with the preventive measures,” said Shailaja.
According to the Health Minister, blood samples of the 23-year-old admitted to the Aster Medcity in Ernakulam will again be collected and sent to the expert team from National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune to know the status of his disease. Meanwhile, the medical bulletin released by the Ernakulam District Collector said the condition of the 23-year-old youth, the only confirmed one with Nipah virus, undergoing treatment at Aster Medcity in Ernakulam is stable and improving.
The core committee meeting presided by Education Minister C Ravindranath on Saturday decided to continue with the anti-Nipah drive which will focus on prevention and treatment.
The three-member team from NIV comprising 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 get down to work from Saturday. A Forest Department team led by Arun Zachariah will also participate in the endeavour.
With the expert team’s assistance, the examination of blood samples are sanitisation drive continues at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery. As part of precautionary and preventive measures adopted by the health department, four teams have been deployed for the monitoring of private hospitals.
So far, the teams have visited 63 hospitals, including 18, on Friday itself.
Scaling down Nipah scare
As per the medical bulletin, the condition of the remaining seven persons in the isolation ward is said to be stable.
The Health Department had so far collected details of 327 persons who were found to have come into direct contact with the infected person. A team is engaged in analysing the present condition of these people. An expert team from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and NIMHANS examined the facilities at the new isolation ward set up at the Medical College.
According to the medical bulletin, the control room helpline set up by the district administration on Saturday received 39 calls on Nipah, thereby bringing the total number of calls received to 557.
With the cooperation of Anganwadi, Kudumbashree, ASHA and Employment Guarantee Scheme workers, training programmes to fight Nipah will be expanded to the grassroots in panchayats and municipality.
Nipah training was imparted to 1,293 persons on Saturday. The Labour Department inspected 12 migrant labour camps at North Paravur, Perumbavur, and Kakkanad areas. Strict action will be taken against those found violating hygiene norms.