Why are rare infections first reported in Kerala?

Thiruvananthapuram: In 2020 the first Covid-19 case in the country was reported in Kerala in a student pursuing studies in China and now the first Mpox Clade 1b strain case in the country is also reported in the south India state and the infected is Malayali working in UAE.

While this brings to focus the challenges posed by the high NRI population of the state, experts cite that the high health awareness of Malayalis and effectiveness of the state's health sector are also reasons why such diseases are diagnosed first in Kerala.

The NRI population of Kerala is estimated to be around 22 lakh, a major chunk of which are those working in Gulf countries as well as students pursuing education in many foreign countries.

In 2020  Kerala had witnessed a wave of Covid-19 cases in NRIs who came down after the first case was found in a woman student pursuing medical education in China. 

Owing to the presence of Malayalis across the globe, the state's health sector used  to be quite alert when any rare diseases break out in any part of the country.

Even as the state health department claims that screening was imposed at the airports after the WHO declared Mpox a public health emergency, experts point out that there are limitations in such screening as only basic screenings could be conducted at airports unless there is a high alert situation. 

Public health experts and former technical officer of WHO Dr S S Lal told DH that the high level of health awareness among the people of Kerala as well as the availability of a large network of hospitals with expert doctors, including those in the private sector, could be considered as reasons why such rare diseases were diagnosed first in Kerala.

In the present Mpox case also the infected person himself took precautions by keeping himself away from other family members owing to suspicions of the infection and took treatment.

Many NIPAH and amoebic meningoencephalitis cases in the state were diagnosed primarily at private hospitals in the state. Many with such rare infections also recovered in the state. All these are positive factors of the state health sector, he points out.