Patients with protective gear outside Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode. Photo: ManoramaKozhikode: Three more nurses from the EMS Memorial Cooperative hospital at Perambra have been taken to Government Medical College Hospital here, according to sources from the hospital. They had attended to the Nipah-virus affected patients in the early stage.
The three nurses were referred to the Kozhikode MCH from taluk hospital, Perambra, with fever and headache, and so far there is no confirmation that they have contracted the dreaded disease.
The hospital employees are tense after one of the nurses, who cared for one of the patients who was infected with the Nipah virus, died. The relatives of the nurse, Lini, could not see her body or perform the last rituals, as her body was cremated at the electric crematorium by health department officials amid fears that she could have been infected.
4 deaths
The Nipah virus has so far claimed four lives in Kerala while one person is undergoing treatment and 8 others are under observation in Kozhikode district, health minister K K Shylaja said.
The three deaths, which occurred over the past fortnight, were from the same family, including two siblings in their early twenties.
The man who is undergoing treatment for 'Nipah' is the father of the two brothers who died. A bat was found in the well of their house which has now been closed, the minister said.
Janaki, a Perambra native, had died due to fever on Sunday night. Later, it was confirmed that she was infected with the Nipah virus, Manorama News reported on Monday.
A nursing assistant, Lini, who had treated three infected persons, died on Monday morning. However, it is yet to be confirmed if she had contracted the virus, which spreads through bats.
What is Nipah?
Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a zoonosis that causes severe disease in both animals and humans.
The natural host of the virus are fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, Pteropus genus.
Five more people have died due to high fever and similar symptoms of the virus here and in Malappuram. However, it is yet to be confirmed if their deaths was caused by the virus, health department sources said.
(With PTI inputs)
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