Heena Sharma Blog

The Kerala government Wednesday said the condition of the college student being treated at a private hospital for Nipah virus is stable while the condition of five others kept under watch was improving. A total of 311 people from various districts are under observation, Health Minister K K Shailaja said. "The condition of the student is stable. It has not turned worse," she said, a day after the 23-year old student here was confirmed to be infected with Nipah virus. A medical bulletin issued by the hospital Tuesday night had said he was admitted on May 30 and "the patient is clinically stable, slowly improving and his fever is subsiding." Talking to reporters here, Shailaja said samples collected from the five people currently being treated at the isolation ward of Kalamassery Medical College Hospital have been sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune this morning. "The preliminary assessment of their health shows that they are not in a se...

Almost a year after ' Nipah ' (NiV) caused panic in Kerala after claiming over 17 lives, the deadly virus is back in the state. On Tuesday, Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja confirmed that a 23-year-old college has been infected with the Nipah virus in Kochi. The results of blood samples of the student were tested at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. The government is preparing a list of people who were in contact with the infected youth. The government has so far listed out at least 86 people who he came in contact with recently. They have been kept under observation and asked to report to the nearest medical facility if they develop influenza-like symptoms like fever, headache, myalgia (muscle pain), vomiting and sore throat. Health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan told reporters that there is no need to panic, after chairing high level meeting on Nipah Virus in Kerala this morning. He also said that the wildlife department had been asked to capture bats f...

Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja confirmed Tuesday that a 23-year-old college student admitted to a hospital in Kochi has been infected with the Nipah virus . The results of blood samples of the student, which were tested at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, have confirmed Nipah, she said. The result came this morning, she said. The student has been admitted to a private hospital. Earlier, blood samples examined at two virology institutes--Manipal Institute of Virology and Kerala Institute of Virology and Infectious Diseases--had indicated Nipah. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Region takes about a third of all Indian fruit shipment and quarter of vegetables sold abroad; consignments from other states could face ban, too, if virus not contained Current Affairs News : With Kerala continuing to battle the infectious and deadly Nipah virus, all fruit and vegetables from the state have been banned in the majority of nations across the Arabian   Gulf.   The region is India's largest export market. Nipah has claimed 17 lives till now. Last week, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain had ordered complete import restriction on fruit and vegetables from Kerala. Over this weekend, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait also announced officially that import in both categories would stop till further notice. Since most countries in the region have similar and closely knit Customs rules, media reports from Oman suggest it might also follow . The brain-damaging   Nipah virus   appeared in Kerala early last month. It is contagious and the...

Kerala govt has made all necessary arrangements to stem the spread of panic due to the virus infection whose first outbreak was in Malaysia and has claimed as many as 300 lives since Current Affairs News : The deadly   Nipah virus   (NiV), which has so far killed nine people in Kerala, is reported to be fast-spreading. While the state government has made all necessary arrangements to stem the spread of panic and sanctioned an emergency fund of Rs 2 million (Rs 20 lakh) to the Kozhikode Medical College to tackle the fever outbreak, the Centre on Monday sent a multi-disciplinary   National   Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) team. In a series of tweets on Monday evening, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's office said the "government is closely monitoring the spread of the   Nipah virus. Health department is doing everything possible to save the lives of the infected & prevent the advance of virus". CM Vijayan further assured that the st...