West Bengal: Two Nipah-infected nurses critical and in a coma

Two nurses from Barasat in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal who have tested positive for the Nipah virus are in a coma and in extremely critical condition hospital sources said on WednesdayIn both cases the Glasgow Coma Scale GCS scores for eye opening verbal response and motor response are below fiveThe female nurse has tested positive for Nipah with her samples confirmed by the National Institute of Virology NIV PuneDoctors said the male nurse who is currently on ventilator support is also likely to test positiveAround 65 people who came into contact with the two nurses have been identified and placed under isolationThe infected nurses were staying as paying guests in Hridaypur BarasatTwo people who stayed with the male nurse and one who stayed with the female nurse have developed fever and are under observationThose exposed to the patients including the ambulance driver who transported them to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital medical staff involved in their treatment and others present at the time have been screened and provided preventive careThe Centre has activated standard protocols for surveillance sample collection and bed preparednessA joint team of experts from the state and central health departments has visited the private hospital in Barasat where the nurses are admittedSamples of 14 contacts have been sent to AIIMS Kalyani for testing while additional samples have been collected from Katwa and Burdwan Medical College HospitalsSources said a female nurse from Katwa is also in a critical condition and has slipped into a comaAn RMO from the same hospital has developed similar symptoms and is undergoing treatmentHis blood samples have been sent for testing At least 23 hospital staff members have been quarantined so far a number that may rise furtherThe two Nipah cases were first identified on Sunday by the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory VRDL at ICMRAIIMS KalyaniBoth nurses are attached to a hospital in Barasat and are currently admitted to the ICU of a private facilityA national joint outbreak response team has been deployed to assist the state government in containment and public health measuresThe team includes experts from the All India Institute of Health and Public Hygiene Kolkata NIV Pune National Institute of Epidemiology Chennai AIIMS Kalyani and the Department of Wildlife under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate ChangeUnion Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda has assured full support from the CentreHe wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and also spoke to her over the phone reiterating the Union governmentrsquos commitment to provide all necessary assistance according to a statement from the health ministryThis 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