A high-level meeting was held in Kochi as fears of Nipah outbreak gripped Kerala, after a 23-year-old college student was admitted to a private hospital on Sunday with similar symptom.
Her samples have been sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, and health authorities are awaiting for the results.
Speaking to the media, health authorities said there was no reason to panic and urged people not to spread rumours through social media as situation is under control.
Meanwhile, a team comprising Health Secretary, District Medical Officer and District Programme Manager, NHM, Ernakulam, have reached Govt Medical College, Ernakulam, to oversee arrangements for having an isolation ward for the highly infectious disease.
Health Minister K.K. Shailaja said necessary precautions have been taken and isolation wards set up at the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital in Kochi.
Earlier, there have been suspected cases and samples sent for tests but results had turned out to be negative, she said.
“In this case, the patient’s samples have been sent to NIV, Pune, and the government is awaiting the result. Only after we get the report from the institute, can it be confirmed if the patient is infected by the virus or not,” the Minister told the reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
The student, hailing from Ernakulam district, had studied in a college in Thodupuzha in Idukki and had stayed in Thrissur recently, in connection with a camp.
According to Thrissur District Medical Officer Dr. Reena, the student was in Thrissur only for four days and had been suffering from fever. There were 16 other students with him and six of them, who came in direct contact with him, are under observation, she said.
The Idukki district medical authorities said the college in Thodupuzha, where the student is studying, is also under observation.
The Minister said there was no need for people to panic as the government has taken all precautionary measures and asked all private hospitals to inform them if suspected cases are reported.
Government, private and peripheral hospitals have been asked to be cautious, she said, adding a high-level meeting of health officials would be held in Kochi this afternoon.
According to State government figures, the Nipah virus had claimed 17 lives – 14 in Kozhikode and three in neighbouring Malappuram in May last year.
(With inputs from PTI)