Kerala: 42-year-old Nipah patient's condition remains critical
Malappuram: The 42-year-old woman infected with the Nipah virus in Malappuram remains in critical condition, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Sunday.
The woman from Valanchery is currently receiving treatment in the hospital, she said in a release here.
According to the PTI news report, meanwhile, the test results of 11 more people on the patient's contact list have come back negative, it said.
This brings the total number of negative results to 42 thus far.
Also Read:Kerala Nipah Virus: One more test result negative, 268 on contact list
Today, 18 more people were added to the contact list, raising the total to 112. Out of these, 54 are considered high-risk and 58 low-risk.
As per a media report in the News Minute, the woman, a resident of Valanchery, was admitted to a private hospital in Perinthalmanna on May 2 with symptoms of encephalitis. Her samples were later sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, which confirmed the infection on May 8.
The contact list includes 81 people from Malappuram, 25 from Palakkad, three from Kozhikode, and one each from Ernakulam, Idukki, and Thiruvananthapuram, the release said.
"Only one person has been confirmed to have Nipah at the moment. Ten people are under medical observation, including two who are being treated in the ICU," it said.
The health minister led an online review meeting to assess the situation.
Prophylactic treatment has been started for 10 people in the high-risk category, the release said.
Prophylactic treatments are preventive measures taken to lower the risk of developing a disease or worsening an existing condition.
As part of fever surveillance efforts, trained health workers visited 2,087 houses on Sunday. In total, 3,868 homes have been checked, with 87 per cent of the house visits completed so far, it said.
As part of a joint outbreak investigation involving multiple departments, officials have also been asked to closely examine any animal deaths in the area, the release added.
According to the WHO, Nipah virus is a zoonotic virus (transmitted from animals to humans) and can also spread through contaminated food or direct human-to-human transmission.
Also Read:14-year-old boy dies of Nipah Virus in Kozhikode Hospital
