Tablets brought from malaysia, but officials wary of side effects

KOZHIKODE: Heath department has rushed a medicine, Ribavirin, used in Malaysia to contain the

Nipah

outbreak there, to treat NiV patients admitted to the medical college hospital. A total of 8,700 tablets reached the hospital on Wednesday. Additional director of health services Dr KJ Reena said that the tablets will be administered after taking the opinion of medical experts as there is high chance of adverse side effects.


Meanwhile, confusion continued over the source of infection. “So far, no animal has been identified in the area as carrier of Nipah virus. There are not even symptoms of virus infection in animals,” said animal husbandry department director Dr N Sasi. “We have so far collected samples from insecteating bats that normally don’t carry Nipah virus. We are trying to catch fruit-eating bats,” he said.

Meanwhile, health authorities confirmed that Ubeesh, a native of Thennala in Malappuram, has contracted Nipah virus and is being treated at the medical college hospital.

Ubeesh is the husband of

Shijitha

who died of the same virus infection recently. Health authorities had found that Shijitha contracted the disease from infected persons admitted at the medical college hospital in Kozhikode. To ensure that Nipah does not spread, the district administration has decided to shut all educational institutions in Thennala, Moonniyur, Tenhipalam and

Moorkanad

panchayats.

In Kottayam, a nurse from a private hospital in Kozhikode, was admitted to the medical college with suspected Nipah infection on Wednesday. RMO Dr RP Renjin she was being kept under observation and the infection was not confirmed.

The nurse, a native of Kottayam, was working in a private hospital in Kozhikode and had reached home on Wednesday morning. By evening she developed giddiness and started vomiting. Her relatives immediately informed the hospital authorities in Kozhikode and based on their advice she was taken to the hospital.

A 57-year-old man from Chakkittapara in Kozhikode was admitted to the medical college hospital in Kottayam with suspected Nipah virus infection on Wednesday. The person had visited the houses of Nipah virus infected persons, including those who died of the infection in

Perambra

near Kozhikode. District medical officer Jacob Varghese said he is not showing any Nipah virus symptoms.

A nurse in Thalassery general hospital who treated a Nipah-infected patient, and the driver who ferried the patient, have been admitted in the isolation ward for observation.

Calicut University

has postponed three fourth-semester UG exams and the fourth semester BA/BSc exams that were scheduled to be held on Thursday, Friday and Monday, in the wake of Nipah infections reported from Kozhikode and Malappuram.

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