Nipah: ICMR gives nod to Kerala to do TrueNat tests
Kozhikode: Health minister Veena George said that Kerala has managed to contain the spread of Nipah. At present, 994 people are in the contact list of positive cases and the threat is not over as four patients are currently undergoing treatment. ICMR has given permission to conduct TrueNat test for detecting Nipah. With this, the government will be able to conduct tests in state labs and virus detected using TureNat tests will be sent for further testing in virology labs, she added.
George said of the 323 samples sent for testing till date, 317 tested negative. Those who were in the high-risk group due to their contact with the index patient tested negative. All those who were in the contact list, including symptomatic and asymptomatic persons, were tested and no new cases surfaced in the past four days, she said.
No new cases were reported for the fifth consecutive day. There were six positive cases in the current outbreak with the last person testing negative on September 15.
Meanwhile, condition of the nine-year-old patient, currently under treatment at a private hospital, improved following which he was removed from oxygen support. The condition of three other patients are also satisfactory. Currently there are 11 persons under observation at the medical college. Health workers conducted house-to-house surveillance in 1,003 houses on Wednesday taking the total houses covered to 53,708.
Meanwhile, central and state teams continued their efforts to collect samples from bats as part of source identification measures. Trap nets were laid at Devarkovil near Kuttiady to capture bats and take samples. Teams also collected samples from bats, wild boars, dogs and cats. The district coordinator of the project for prevention of zoonotic diseases said the samples will be sent to National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases at Bhopal for testing.
Health department directed people staying in containment zones and those who are in isolation to use the government’s e-Sanjeevani telemedicine project. A special Nipah OP service was started under the project from 8am to 5pm. People from containment zones can consult doctors for normal health issues and clear doubts using this facility. Meanwhile, collector announced easing of restrictions in containment zones of Vadakara taluk allowing treasury office to work till 2pm.
Source – ETHealth World
