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...