THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala health department has prepared an action plan to deal with the Zika outbreak as 13 more people have been confirmed with the viral infection in Thiruvananthapuram. The first case was detected in a pregnant woman in the district on Thursday. With this, the total number of cases touched 14. The health condition of all 14 patients is normal.
The department has drawn up the action plan against the mosquito-borne disease with a special focus on pregnant women. The disease is considered to have severe impact on women up to four months of pregnancy.
The health minister Veena George has issued directions to district medical officers to ensure all pregnant women up to five months of pregnancy are not infected with Zika virus if they have fever. Lab facilities for detecting the virus will be set up at medical colleges and public health labs, said the minister. Private hospitals will be made part of the Zika control measures. All hospitals have been asked to ensure that people reporting with fever, body pain, rashes and headache are Zika infected. The department has also stepped up training and awareness against the spread of the infection spread primarily through mosquito bites.
All the 13 Zika positive patients confirmed on Friday are nursing staff of a private hospital in the city. “All the patients became normal within a week after infection. The infectious disease team from the hospital is closely monitoring their health as some of them are pregnant also,” said a source. The health department will study their travel history and location near the hospital where the staff stayed to chart out a containment plan. The department has also collected 17 samples from the locations in Parassala and Nandancode where the first detected patient resided. The minister said there was no need for fear and various departments will be coordinated to control mosquitos.
Zika virus
The infection is mostly asymptomatic and deaths are rare. However it has severe impact on pregnant women. It causes abortion or complications in pregnancy. The child born of an infected mother could have physical disabilities. Infection in children and elderly could result in nerve disorders. The symptoms prolong for two to seven days. The virus has an incubation period of three to 14 days.
Zika is detected using an RT-PCR test. However, only the National Centre for Disease Control in Delhi and NIV, Pune, have facilities for confirming the infection.
Prevention and treatment
There is no medicine for the prevention and treatment of Zika. Doctors recommend adequate rest and drinking plenty of water to help relieve symptoms. If the symptoms worsen, expert care should be sought. Pregnant women in Zika-affected locations should undergo testing and treatment. The only preventive measure against Zika infection is to avoid mosquito bites, especially during day time and evening, said a health directive. It also suggested eliminating mosquito breeding places and preventing water logging.
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