NOB-Thiruvananthapura news: Nipha virus is troubling Kerala. Another new case emerged on 15.09.2023. A 39-year-old man was found to be infected with the virus. State Health Minister Veena George said that he contracted the virus from a person who died of Nipha on the 30th of August 2023. With this, the number of Nipha cases in the state has reached six. Two of them have already died. The Minister stated that four people are being treated and their condition is stable. In view of the increasing number of cases, the government has decided to conduct tests on all those who may be exposed to the infection. On the other hand, the tests conducted on the samples of 11 people showed that they were not infected with the Nipha virus, giving some relief to Kerala. The Kerala government has warned that the Nipha virus found in the state is the Bangladeshi variant, and although the spread of this human-to-human variant is low, the death toll is high.

ICMR also confirmed the same. The death rate with Nipha is 40-70%, which is much higher than with Covid (2-3%), said Rajiv Bhatt, director general of the organization. As during Corona, it is advised to follow precautions such as wearing a mask and washing hands frequently with soap. Those infected are told not to socialize with others, stay in isolation and seek treatment. ICMMAR has provided the monoclonal antibody used in the treatment of Nipha to Kerala. Bhat revealed that at present we only have enough monoclonal antibody doses for ten patients and another 20 doses will be brought from Australia. However, this medicine works in the initial stage of Nipha infection. Due to the spread of the virus in Kozhikode district, holidays have been declared for educational institutions across the district till 24th of September 2023. However, WHO and ICMR have warned that Nipha’s impact is likely to be across the state and people living near forest areas should be cautious.

This is the fourth time that Nipha virus has emerged in Kerala. Previously, cases of this virus came to light in Kozhikode in 2018 and 2021 and in Ernakulam in 2019. In 2018, 21 people died due to Nipha virus in Kerala. Neighboring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have been alerted by Nipha in Kerala. Alert has been announced in the border districts to prevent the virus from spreading into their states. People and vehicles coming from Kerala are being checked.

Symptoms:
Nipha virus causes problems in breathing and brain. Symptoms like fever, headache, drowsiness, vomiting, cold, cough, shortness of breath, change in behavior, sore throat, fatigue in the initial stage of virus infection.
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