KOZHIKODE: The state Health Department may have earned applause for early identification of Nipah infection in the state, but the high mortality rate among patients is a cause for concern. Of the 18 persons tested positive, 16 have succumbed to the deadly virus so far.
Compared to Nipah casualities elsewhere in the world, the death rate due to the virus has reached close to 90 per cent in north Kerala. Shockingly, nine of the patients contracted the virus at the Medical College Hospital (MCH), exposing serious concerns about hospital acquired infection.According to the World Health Organisation data, the worldwide mortality rate of Nipah infection is 75 per cent. The rate at Nadia in West Bengal was very high, but casualties were just five.
MCH the epicentre?
Though state health officers claim the virus had spread from the MCH before it was identified, a source told Express the hospital failed to contain it even afterwards.“Personal protection facilities were inadequate and of poor quality till May 22 -- two days after the virus was identified. Also, there was no proper isolation facility until May 23. Lack of sufficient precaution while handling patients also aggravated the spread. A woman taken to the MCH after consuming poison was allotted a bed in between two Nipah patients at the ICU. The woman later succumbed to the infection,” the source
said.
Additional director of health services (ADHS) Dr Reena K J said people who contracted the infection from the MCH had come into contact with Sabith, the first victim, when he was being taken for CT scanning. At that time the virus was not yet identified. “A few people at the corridor to the CT Scan room were affected as Sabith was coughing badly. Sabith’s saliva droplets are suspected to have carried the virus to these people,” said Reena.
However, the ADHS denied the allegation that the efforts to contain the disease were delayed. “We started implementing the protocol from May 19. After identifying Nipah virus, no more infections have occurred from the MCH,” she said.
Silver lining
There is silver lining, though. Reena said a 19-year-old girl, who was undergoing treatment for Nipah at the MCH, has now overcome the critical situation. “She was on a ventilator. We had little hope about her survival, but now she has been shifted to ward,” the ADHS pointed out.G Arun Kumar, Head of the Department of Virus Research, Manipal, said in other countries the number of virus-affected people were high and the disease had prolonged for months.
“When first outbreak occurred abroad, all the affected people died. Here, we identified the disease early and the number of patients are very less. So we can’t compare both scenarios,” opined Arun.