KOLKATA: Two persons suspected to have contracted the Nipah virus have been admitted to the isolation ward of ID Hospital at Beliaghata in Kolkata on Wednesday for observation. The hospitalised persons, a doctor and a nurse, had recently been in close contact with the two Nipah virus-infected patients.
The state government on Monday started a contract tracing drive among medical professionals and family members who had come close in contact with the affected patients at the private hospital at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district.
Following the contract tracing drive, the expert committee has advised the doctor and the nurse to get admitted to the ID Hospital’s isolation ward.
The nurse is a resident of Bardhaman while the doctor hails from South 24 Parganas district. The doctor quarantined himself at his home and today he was taken to the ID Hospital after he fell sick.
Saliva samples of the doctor and the nurse will be sent to the laboratory at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Kalyani for Nipah confirmatory test as a precautionary measure.
The state health department headed by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to monitor the health of all those who had come in close contact with the two patients.
Sources in the state health department at Swasthya Bhaban at Salt Lake said that an anti-viral drug used during the COVID-19 pandemic is being administered to two nurses, as there are no specific guidelines for treating Nipah virus infections.
Both patients are nurses including one male and undergoing treatment in the critical care unit (CCU) in the private hospital in North 24 Parganas district in the state. The condition of the two patients remained highly critical till this afternoon. The female nurse is in a comatose condition while the male one is getting treatment with life-support system in the CCU.