Medics wearing protective gear examine a patient at a hospital in Kozhikode. (Inset) Dr G Arun Kumar, the head of the viral studies department at the Kasturba Medical College, Manipal. Reuters/File photoKozhikode: Health experts aver that Nipah virus (NiV) infection can be tamed, though it has high mortality rates.
Dr G Arun Kumar, the head of the viral studies department at the Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, claimed NiV infection cannot lead to a tragedy on the scale of small pox, ebola or measles as has happened elsewhere. The medicine that is being procured for Kozhikode was used in Australia against the Henda virus that is similar to Nipah. The doctor said it is expected to be effective against NiV.
Currently, those getting infected with NiV are those who contracted the virus from the first-infected patient and those who got in touch with them at the hospitals and other places. No new virus infection has been reported anywhere outside this category. What is important is that those who are under watch should report to health authorities if any symptoms are found, he stated.
Bystanders of patients are the ones who should take maximum care as they could be probable carriers. The infection can pass to people who interact with patients within a distance of one meter. In such cases, NiV is spread mainly by droplet transmission during sneezing and cough.
In Kerala's Nipah zone, the disease is in fact under control, as the health authorities contained it the way they had planned. However, the preventive measures in place have to be implemented with greater efficiency. The search for those who had been in contact with infected persons is part of that. Isolation wards have been set up at medical college hospitals. However, there is no need to panic and empty the hospitals as has been suggested from some quarters.
Dr Kumar has been an active member of the Nipah preventive team working at Kozhikode right from the beginning.
