Antiviral against Nipah has arrived in Kerala: State govt

The Kerala government on Thursday said the monoclonal antibody required for treatment of those infected by the Nipah virus has arrived in the stateState Health Minister Veena George said a meeting was held between the Principal Secretary of the Health Department and the Union Health Ministry earlier in the day and now the monoclonal antibody has arrivedShe told reporters that stability of the medicine which is not clinically proven yet but is the only available antiviral treatment for Nipah virus infection was discussed with a central expert committeeFurther steps or course of action would be decided by the expert committee she saidEarlier in the day in the state Assembly the Minister said there was no need to be apprehensive about the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode district but caution needs to be exercised by people as they go about their daily activitiesThere is no need for any apprehension We can all together deal with the issue with caution she said in a statement in the AssemblyThe braindamaging virus has killed two people and infected three others in Kozhikode districtOn Wednesday a 24year old health worker became Keralas fifth confirmed Nipah case since its recent outbreakOf the three infected persons under treatment the condition of a nineyearold boy continues to remain criticalFollowing the outbreak all educational institutions in Kozhikode district were closed on Thursday and FridayKozhikode District Collector A Geetha announced this in a Facebook post and said educational institutions can arrange online classes on the two days for studentsHowever there will be no change in university exams schedule she addedA 24hour control room was set up in the neighbouring district of Wayanad following the Nipah outbreak in KozhikodeThe Wayanad district administration also constituted 15 core committees to lead the prevention and surveillance activities and effectively deal with emergency situationsThe virus strain seen in the state was the Bangladesh variant that spreads from human to human and has a high mortality rate though it is less infectious the government has saidThe government has also said the WHO and ICMR studies had found out that the entire state of Kerala is prone to getting such infections not just KozhikodePeople living in forest areas have to take the highest precautions it has said and added that the latest case of the Nipah virus originated within five kilometres of a jungle areaAround 11 wards were declared as containment zones in Kozhikode district till Wednesday eveningThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever