A day after all seven persons admitted to the isolation ward of Ernakulam Government Medical College Hospital tested negative for Nipah , a second isolation ward with a capacity to accommodate 30 patients has been opened in the hospital.
Specially trained teams have been deployed for manning the new isolation ward. The teams include 70 doctors, 102 paramedical staff and 30 attenders. A team has also been kept on stand-by. Arrangements have also been put in place for the scientific disposal of biomedical waste.
Though their bodily fluids sent to the National Institute of Virology tested negative for Nipah, the surveillance of all seven patients will continue for the entire length of their incubation period.
In an indication of the health situation stabilising, no fresh admissions for suspected Nipah have been reported in the district so far in the day. The condition of the 23-year-old youngster from North Paravur who was confirmed to have been inflicted with Nipah on June 4 remains stable, Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla said.
Though the situation remains under control, the health department will continue its anti-Nipah preventive drive, a medical bulletin issued by the Collector said. People have been asked to comply with the precautionary measures suggested by the department.
Health authorities have so far collected details of 315 out of the 318 persons who had come into contact with the Nipah-affected youngster. Condition of 244 persons was closely scrutinised. While 41 were categorised as high risk and kept under surveillance, 203 were identified as low-risk category.
Those who had come into contact with the bodily fluids of the affected patient or had been with him for not less than 12 hours were considered as high risk category. The health machinery is working overtime to trace more persons, if any, who happened to be in contact with the patient.
Experts from the National Institute of Virology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) and National Centre for Disease Control have conducted study by visiting various places. Experts from AIMS and NIMHANS visited the hospital and conducted a clinical study of the patient. A three-member expert group is also in the district to study bats in connection with the outbreak of Nipah.A
A Cyber Space Monitoring Team has intensified action against those found guilty of engaging in spreading misinformation relating to Nipah. The team handed over eight such cases to the police.
A new helpline for counselling has been started in the control room. The service will be available at the number 0484-2351185. The call centre has received 118 calls till Friday afternoon while another 490 calls were received with regard to doubts about fever.
A point-of-care lab for conducting Nipah-related tests has been set up at the microbiology lab of the Government Medical College with the help of experts from the National Institute of Virology. The lab fitted with state-of-the-art machines had turned operational on Thursday evening. All necessary equipment and medicines had also been brought from Pune.
An expert team will conduct a field investigation at the places where the Nipah-inflicted patient had been to previously, including the hospital where he had initially received treatment. Another team, including entomologists and field biologists, will mark out places with heavy concentration of bats.
