A patient, who according to medics is suffering from Nipah infection, is shifted to an ICU of Nipah isolation ward in Kozhikode Medical College in Kerala, India, July 20, 2024.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: A 14-year-old boy in Kerala, who was tested positive for Nipah virus infection died on Sunday.
Around 260 people who came in contact with the boy are kept under surveillance, 65 out of them are in the high-risk category. Seven, including the boy's family members and close friends, are in hospital surveillance.
The boy hailing from Pandikkad in Malappuram district was ill from July 10. His illness worsened despite treatment at a couple of private hospitals in Malappuram, he was then shifted to a private super speciality hospital in Kozhikode.
After being tested positive he was shifted to Kozhikode medical college hospital by June 20. However he died by Sunday as the infected affected brain and lungs.
Kerala health minister Verna George said that steps to contain the spread of Nipah were being taken.
The Nipah scare poses more challenges to the health sector and the cases are increase in Kerala.
Nipah cases are being reported almost every year in Kerala, mostly northern districts, over the last few years.
As many as 20 died in a Nipah breakout in Kozhikode in 2018. In 2019 one person was infected and recovered. In 2021 one Nipah death was reported. Last year two of the six infected died.
Despite back-to-back instances of Nipah outbreaks in Kerala, the source of infection is yet to be confirmed conclusively. Last year the Indian Council of Medical Research had found the presence of Nipah virus in samples collected from fruit bats in Wayanad in north Kerala.
Nipah virus, a highly pathogenic Paramyxovirus, is one of the ten priority pathogens identified by the World Health Organisation.