KOLKATA: Two Nipah virus-affected cases were reported in West Bengal on Monday. Both patients are nurses and undergoing treatment in a critical care unit (CCU) in a private hospital in North 24 Parganas district in the state.
According to sources in North 24 Parganas district health administration, the two patients aged 25 and 27, who hail from East Bardhaman and Nadia districts respectively, have been undergoing treatment in the CCU since 6 January.
Initially, they fell ill showing symptoms of altered headache, throat sore, consciousness, seizure, fever and were taken to local state government healthcare facilities in East Bardhaman and east Midnapore districts.
On 6 January, they were shifted to the CCU of the private hospital at Barasat, where they used to work as nurses after their condition deteriorated, sources in the North 24 Parganas district health administration said requesting anonymity.
Their cerebral fluid and throat swab samples were tested Nipah virus positive at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) laboratory in Kalyani in North 24 Parganas district.
The state chief secretary Nandini Chakraborty said tonight, “The government is monitoring the situation after two Nipah cases were reported in the state. Details in connection with how did the nurses get the infections, whether they had come close in contact with any Nipah-affected cases etc are being collected.”
Narayan Swaroop Nigam, principal secretary in charge of the state health department, said that all hospitals and other healthcare facilities have been sensitised and asked to keep watch NIPAH virus suspects.
Dr Utpal Banerjee, secretary of the Association of Health Service Doctors (AHSD), platform of government medical practitioners, said, “Two Nipah positive cases have been reported in the state and they are undergoing treatment at a private hospital in critical condition. We have already urged the state government to take adequate precautionary measures immediately to prevent the disease.”
This is for the first time since 2001 the NIPAH virus-affected patients reported in Bengal, Dr Banerjee said.
Medical experts said that NIPAH virus (NiV) is a virus that spreads mainly through fruit bats but can also extend its area of infections through pigs and other animals. It can cause severe symptoms, including death.
There’s no medication or vaccine for it. It’s more common in Asia, primarily Bangladesh and India.
Preventing the virus involves infection control measures like protective equipment and disinfecting surfaces, as well as avoiding sick animals or areas with known Nipah virus outbreaks, they said.
It spreads mainly through fruit bats (also called flying foxes) but can also spread through pigs and other animals like goats, horses, dogs or cats.
Nipah virus symptoms start like the flu (fever, headache, cough, sore throat, muscle pain) within 4-14 days, often with respiratory issues, then progress to severe brain inflammation (encephalitis) with drowsiness, confusion, seizures, coma, and potentially death, with high mortality (40-75%).
Early diagnosis is tough due to non-specific signs, but severe neurological changes indicate serious brain involvement, requiring immediate medical care.
