Latest news with #Nipah-infected
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
People warned against visiting hospitals in Palakkad, Malappuram as Nipah scare escalates
Health authorities have warned people to avoid visiting patients in hospitals, particularly in Palakkad and Malappuram districts, in the wake of an increased Nipah scare. To minimise risk, hospitals are limiting attendants to one person per patient and mandating masks for all staff, patients, and caregivers. As health officials compiled the contact list of the 58-year-old man from Kumaramputhur, near Mannarkkad, who succumbed to Nipah at a private hospital in Perinthalmanna on Saturday evening, it was revealed that he had mainly used KSRTC buses for travel. The man's family members, including his wife, children and grandchildren, are among the primary contacts. As a precaution, the school attended by the grandchildren has been shut down. Before his death at the Perinthalmanna hospital, the man had visited three other private hospitals for treatment, which may result in a lengthy contact list. As many as 112 persons who came in contact with him in the last three weeks were traced, and a route map was made by examining, among other things, surveillance camera footage. 609 under observation The number of people under observation for Nipah rose to 609 on Monday. When 207 of them are in Malappuram district, 286 are in Palakkad, 114 in Kozhikode and two in Ernakulam. Eight persons are under treatment in intensive care units in Malappuram, when five are under treatment in Palakkad. Health Minister Veena George said that 72 quarantined persons tested negative for Nipah in Malappuram. She said 38 persons in the State continued to be in the highest risk category and 133 in high risk category. Fever survey Health officials strengthened their field work in areas where restrictions were imposed by the district administration. A fever survey is also being done. As many as 17 wards in the vicinity of Kumaramputhur were declared as containment zones, covering areas within a three-kilometre radius of the Nipah-infected person's residence. The containment zones included seven wards in Kumaramputhur panchayat, three wards in Karakurissi panchayat, four wards in Mannarkkad municipality and three wards in Karimpuzha panchayat. Crowding is banned in those zones, and shops there can function from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. All educational institutions, including madrasas and anganwadis, have been closed there. There are restrictions on people from outside entering the containment zones.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Concerns grow as Kerala reports sixth Nipah case within a year
A fresh Nipah case in Palakkad district has sent alarm bells ringing and sparked fears that the deadly virus hasn't been contained despite the best efforts of the health authorities. The Palakkad district was hit with a second Nipah case on Saturday (July 12, 2025) night as a 58-year-old man who had died at a private hospital at Perinthalmanna tested positive for the virus. He was under treatment at the Perinthalmanna hospital for fever-related ailments. Since Saturday (July 12, 2025) evening, Palakkad and Malappuram districts have been on tenterhooks. Even before the official confirmation from the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune came, health authorities in Palakkad and Malappuram districts swiftly initiated contact-tracing for individuals who interacted with the Nipah victim over the past three weeks. The latest death marks the sixth Nipah case in Kerala within a year, starting with the death of a 14-year-old boy at Pandikkad in Malappuram in July 2024. Health Minister Veena George announced on Sunday (July 13, 2025) that a detailed contact list and route map of the Nipah victim have been prepared and are awaiting release pending confirmation from the NIV. As many as 46 people who came in contact with the Nipah-infected person were traced and advised quarantine. Several surveillance camera footages were examined to trace the contacts and to prepare the route map. A family tree of the deceased person too was mapped out. The Minister said that fieldwork in and around Kumaramputhur was ramped up on Sunday (July 13, 2025) following the Nipah case detection. Fever surveillance is going on, and multiple health worker teams will conduct door-to-door visits to allay fears and provide guidance on precautions against the Nipah virus, which is widely believed to be spreading from fruit-eating bats. 'We will bolster our fight against Nipah by strengthening the health teams involved in it and intensifying preventive measures as soon as we get the final confirmation from NIV, Pune,' said Ms. George. Ms. George urged the public to refrain from visiting friends and relatives in hospitals in Palakkad and Malappuram districts as a precautionary measure to prevent the potential spread of Nipah. To minimise the risk of virus transmission, hospitals have been advised to limit the number of bystanders allowed with patients. Patients, bystanders and healthcare staff have been advised to wear masks. As many as 543 persons across the State, including the 46 contacts of the latest Nipah victim, are currently under observation. When 208 of them are in Malappuram, 219 are in Palakkad, 114 in Kozhikode and two in Ernakulam. Following the death of a 14-year-old boy after the virus infection at Pandikkad in July 2024, a 24-year-old man at Naduvath, Wandoor (Malappuram) fell victim in September 2024. In May this year, a 42-year-old woman from Valanchery (Malappuram) was affected by Nipah. Although she survived the deadly virus, she is yet to recover. In the first week of this month, an 18-year-old girl from Mankada (Malappuram) died of Nipah, and a 38-year-old woman from Thachanattukara (Palakkad) is infected. She is currently battling for life.
The Hindu
09-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Woman who died in quarantine tests negative for Nipah
Health officials in Malappuram district heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday when a 78-year-old woman from Parappanangadi who had been under treatment in quarantine after contact with a Nipah patient and later passed away tested negative for the virus posthumously. Her funeral had been put on hold awaiting the test results. Health Minister Veena George said that 498 people in the State were on the Nipah contact list. She said prevention activities should continue until September as per the Nipah calendar. When 203 people are under observation in Malappuram, 116 are under observation in Kozhikode, 177 in Palakkad, and two in Ernakulam. Eleven of them are under treatment in Malappuram, with two in intensive care units. As many as 46 persons on the contact list in Malappuram have tested negative for Nipah so far. In Palakkad, three persons are being treated in isolation. Five tests in Palakkad have been negative so far. The Minister said that 29 persons in the State were in highest risk category and 116 in high risk category. The Nipah-infected woman is under treatment in Kozhikode. Meanwhile, a Central medical team on Wednesday visited Malappuram and Palakkad districts to coordinate the virus prevention efforts. The national joint outbreak response team appointed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will give a report to the Centre. The Central team is led by Pranay Verma, joint director at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The team includes experts from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, scientists, veterinary consultants and animal husbandry experts.
The Hindu
08-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Health Matters newsletter: Why prevention is sometimes all in health care
On Nipah virus rearing its head once again in Kerala, studies establishing no links between Covid-19 vaccines and sudden cardiac deaths, healthy ageing parameters, air pollution linked to preterm births, and more On July 1, an adolescent girl succumbed to Nipah infection in Kerala. Nipah, has, since, come to occupy headlines in health news. With two people in Kerala, including the adolescent, testing positive for Nipah, memories of a terrible outbreak in the State in 2018, where 17 of the 19 people who contracted the infection died, surfaced, sending the health and civic authorities into overdrive. While attempts are on to trace the source of the infection, hectic activity also takes the form of tracing the contacts of those who have tested positive for Nipah, isolating them, treating and testing those with symptoms. As many as 425 people who are in the contact lists of the two Nipah-infected persons in three districts in Kerala have been identified and are under surveillance. Of these, 228 are from Malappuram district, where Patient Zero was identified this time, 110 in Palakkad and 87 in Kozhikode. A significant number of them in all three districts are healthcare workers. Why are we so bothered about two cases of Nipah? Because studies show that Nipah has a very high mortality rate of between 45 and 70%. Do read updates here: Nipah virus resurfaces in Kerala, two cases reported; Palakkad, Malappuram administrations step up vigil against Nipah. It might be worth your while to sit through this deep dive into the current Nipah situation by Abdul Latheef Naha: The return of the dread . While providing a backgrounder to the patient, the article also looked at possible sources of fruits/foods contaminated by fruit bats, believed to be the reservoirs of the virus, besides detailing the process that the health teams are following and mentioning how anthropometric activities such as urbanisation and deforestation are destroying natural habitats and influencing the spread of pathogens. C. Maya wrote on how Kerala will launch antibody surveillance studies on Nipah virus. While Kerala has primed its response to Nipah infections, with experience built over the years and outbreaks since 2018, there are some loopholes. Researchers have identified several missing links or knowledge gaps, pertaining to the exact virus spillover mechanism from bats to humans; the recurrence of the spillover events/outbreaks in a specific geographic belt in northern Kerala and how exactly human behaviour, land use and bat ecology interactions are facilitating the virus spillovers. In this context, we also had an edit on the subject: Batting for prevention: On Nipah cases in Kerala The other top news this week was a bunch of studies that were heartening to read, considering the huge anti-vaccine movement that seems to have seized the world. Independent studies established that there was no link between COVID-19 vaccination and sudden cardiac deaths in India. Bindu Shajan Perappadan reported the health ministry's claim that Lifestyle and pre-existing conditions, and not COVID-19 vaccination were key causes of sudden deaths among adults post COVID. The ministry was itself quoting from studies conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) which found no major changes in the patterns of causes of death when compared to previous years. In the majority of unexplained cases, genetic mutations were found to be a likely contributing factor. She followed it up with an interview with Manoj Murhekar, director, National Institute of Epidemiology, an ICMR institution, who debunked claims linking Covid vaccines to sudden deaths as baseless and warned that they can can hamper vaccination programmes. Meanwhile, Afshan Yasmeen wrote on an observational study run by Karnataka's Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research (SJICSR) that did not find any association between premature cardiovascular disease and a prior history of COVID-19 infection, or COVID vaccination. On the contrary, COVID vaccination has been shown to be protective against cardiac events in the long term, the report stated. Read it, here. Amid mounting public anxiety over the rising trend of sudden cardiovascular events (heart attack, sudden cardiac death) post-COVID-19 pandemic, the Karnataka government had, in February this year, set up an expert committee headed by Jayadeva director K. S. Ravindranath to evaluate the temporal and potential causal links with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or COVID-19 vaccination. Ashna Butani also reported on the AIIMS press conference, that came a day after the Health ministry's announcement delinking vaccines and sudden deaths. Hit this link for more information: No evidence that COVID-19 vaccination is causing sudden deaths in young people: AIIMS doctors This week had a long list of stories on tuberculosis, from Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, anchored by Bindu Shajan Perappadan: Do read them here: Puducherry becomes first one to include screening for TB patients under initiative of Family Adoption Programme Puducherry TB screening: Door-to-door active case finding drives help slash incidence by 59% compared to 2015 levels Puducherry accelerates its fight against TB; ranks number one in IRL for chest diseases Tamil Nadu first to integrate 'predicted possibility of TB deaths' in patients to its State TB elimination programme This week we looked elaborately at various health issues along the age spectrum. Rupsy Khurana wrote about BHARAT, where the attempt is to establish baseline healthy ageing parameters for the Indian population. Last year, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, launched a large-scale study called BHARAT, short for 'Biomarkers of Healthy Aging, Resilience, Adversity, and Transitions', as part of its Longevity India Program. The study aims to map the physiological, molecular, and environmental indicators that drive ageing in the Indian population. This will possibly create an India-specific database which we can then evaluate ageing parameters, rather than the western standards that are being used now. In context, do check out this story on how the unchecked anti-ageing, wellness supplement market in India could pose huge health risks. We had Naresh Shetty and Avani Prabhakar discussing Integrating compassion, and prioritising palliative care while V.V. and Vinutha Suresh elaborated on how Palliative care is more than just end-of-life care. Also read about a study that compared industrialised, indigenous groups, and found that inflammation was not always linked with ageing. Researchers highlighted that a holistic approach, looking at culture, environment and lifestyle factors, needs to be taken while studying ageing processes. Migrating to the opposite side of the spectrum and turning our attention to the health of children, you might want to check out the range of stories we had this past week. Vijaita Singh recorded how Bihar has consistently lagged in registering births. Continuing in the series on the importance of registering births and deaths for the second week, this article talked about how the Civil Registration System (CRS) reports of the past two decades show that Bihar has been lagging far behind the rest of the country in registering births. The level of registration of births in Bihar in 2000 stood at 3.7% compared to the national average of 56.2% the same year. The total number of births registered across the country in 2000 was 1,29,46,823. Dr. Christianez Ratna Kiruba elaborated on an analysis published recently in The Lancet on the Global Burden of Diseases Study, estimates that an alarming 1.44 million zero-dose children live in India, based on 2023 data. While focussing on the importance of ensuring that all children are vaccinated, she also spent time to talk about why India also needs to integrate and sustain its immunisation goals. As per this story, India's health survey data revealed that 13% children are born prematurely, and 17%, with low birth weight. In a different article, Geetha Srimathi wrote on a Study that linked air pollution to preterm births, low birth weight in India. The following is an important article on the PM-POSHAN scheme by Kiran Narayanan and Laasya Shekhar to get a sense of How India's midday meal programme struggles on the ground. For Doctors Day, we had specialists who chimed in about the significance of the day that commemorates the birthday of B.C. Roy, Indian physician and former chief minister of West Bengal. Dr. Jacob Jose wrote: Understanding the history and significance of Doctor's Day in India Dr. K. Ganapathy stressed that the patient is a teacher par excellence Dr. C. Aravinda reasoned: Why the prestige of doctors is eroding In welcome news, content moderators for Big Tech have pledged to unite to tackle mental trauma. Content moderators from the Philippines to Turkey are uniting to push for greater mental health support to help them cope with the psychological effects of exposure to a rising tide of disturbing images online. The people tasked with removing harmful content from tech giants like Meta Platforms or TikTok, report a range of noxious health effects from loss of appetite to anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Another report is on Researchers in U.K., Chennai are exploring the use of AI and social robots for early dementia detection and support. Dr. Sumanth C. Raman brought his twin expertise in health care and technology to elaborate on the potential of AI-based Electronic Medical Records to transform healthcare delivery in India. And then, up comes this seamy underbelly of employing technology: It's too easy to make AI chatbots lie about health information, a study finds. Sahana Venugopal tapped into The dark side of period tracking apps to reveal some startling facts about the vulnerability when submitting personal health information.. At a time when rabies has been causing concern in the country, with rabies deaths making a comeback, we felt it pertinent to record these stories. Athira Elssa Johnson explained how Uneven access to rabies care might be the reason for the deaths, based on a survey that flagged gaps in vaccine and immunoglobulin availability in India. Also read about this unique case: Australian man dies from 'extremely rare' rabies-like infection after bat bite. Given the way infectious diseases have dominated this newsletter, it is time we did justice to non communicable diseases as well: Rashikkha Ra Iyer in this interesting article discussed The weight of the mind: how psychophysiology holds the key to tackling India's obesity epidemic. Other stories in this segment that might interest you include: WHO pushes countries to raise prices on sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco by 50%. Suparna Mukherjee offers advice on how to Channel your cravings into conscious choices for better health, starting with dark chocolate. Researchers at IIT-Bombay have found that collagen I -- a structural protein commonly found in the body --may worsen Type 2 diabetes by helping harmful clumps of a hormone called amylin form in the pancreas. Read about it, here. Tail piece This article slid into our tail piece section discussing about how Stimulating brain with weak electric currents may help improve learning maths. While mathematics continues to challenge students, generation after generation, and with parents hoping for tricks to get their wards interested in the subject, this gains importance. Of course, you would have to be a real tiger parent if you would consent to the extreme of using electric currents to get your child to do well in mathematics! In our explainers section, we have a bounty this week. Do hit on the ones that catch your fancy: Andjela Milivojevic wrote on How do unsafe cancer drugs reach patients? (as part of the collaboration with The Hindu and the The Bureau of Investigative Journalism). How genetic factors influence the onset and progression of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Zubeda Hamid in the All you need to know about series focussed on: tinnitus Dr. Vernon Neville Lee spent time explaining a rare and often a rare and often misunderstood cancer: sarcoma Dr. J. Naveen Kumar, Dr. S. Elengkumaran, Dr. Kalpa Pandya on oral cancer care: Understanding treatment options and the importance of rehabilitation. If you can steal a few more moments away from your daily rigour, also read the following stories: Indulekha Aravind: What India must get right about treating snake bites Pakistan records one more poliovirus case; countrywide tally reaches 14 NMC brings in new regulations to expand medical education infrastructure, manpower Karnataka chemists' body demands check on unregulated ad campaigns by online drug sellers on social media Blood and its components can be transported safely with drones by following guidelines: ICMR study For many more health stories, head to our health page and subscribe to the health newsletter here.
The Hindu
07-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Batting for prevention: on Nipah cases in Kerala
With two cases of Nipah virus detected in Kerala — including one fatality owing to the infection — the attention is rightfully, once again, on a preventable infectious disease that could leave havoc in its trail. An adolescent girl from Malappuram succumbed to the virus on July 1, and a 38-year-old woman from Palakkad is battling for life in the hospital. In the big picture, as many as 425 people who are in the contact lists of the two Nipah-infected persons in three districts in Kerala have been identified and are under surveillance. Of these, 228 are from Malappuram district, where Patient Zero was identified this time, 110 in Palakkad and 87 in Kozhikode. In Palakkad, one contact is being treated in isolation, while 12 people are currently undergoing treatment in Malappuram — five of them are in the intensive care unit. One of them tested negative for the infection, and the results for the others are awaited. Over 140 of those on the contact list are said to be health workers. While the health machinery in Kerala is engaged in tracing the original source of the infection, it is also tasked, particularly in the three districts of Malappuram, Palakkad and Kozhikode, to trace contacts, isolate them to prevent further spread, contain infection and treat all those who show symptoms. India has recorded several outbreaks of the virus since 2001, a year when 45 of the 66 people infected died in West Bengal. In 2018, it surged in Kerala, with 17 of the 19 cases with laboratory-confirmed Nipah infection dying without responding to treatment. Kerala continues to report outbreaks regularly since then. What renders even a single case of significant concern to get the entire health-care machinery in a tizzy? Nipah is a transmissible viral infection with a high mortality rate, ranging between 40% and 75%, which implies that if the infection spreads, then, a number of people are likely to die. Future research might add an effective tool to the armamentarium to effectively treat Nipah infections without mortality, but as of now, the course of action is vested only in prevention and awareness generation. Nipah is transmitted by fruit bats which are the natural reservoirs of the virus. It is suspected that consuming contaminated fruits, bitten or licked by bats, may play a role in spreading the virus. It is also equally important to cast a watchful eye on climate change-related factors, particularly anthropogenic activity that is destroying natural habitats, and initiate a robust One Health programme that will weigh not just Nipah but also other pathogens that are capable of zoonotic spillover, transitioning from animals to humans and causing great harm.
