The Nipah was an unknown virus with no medicine or history of treatment and little information about the carrier. Health experts hit a blind spot during the initial stages of the outbreak in north Kerala last month. But they fought back and contained its secondary infection and nursed back to health two Nipah-positive patients — Ajanya, a nursing student and Ubeesh, a male nurse. The deadly virus claimed 17 lives in a span of 10 days. Health experts said that the way the potentially explosive epidemic was contained was laudable.
In two affected districts, Kozhikode and Malappuram, when educational institutions reopened after the extended summer vacation on Tuesday, all schools devoted the first period of the academic session to Nipah. All medical colleges in the state plan to include epidemiology of this virus in the new curriculum.
A team of dedicated medical staff, well-oiled health machinery, and effective monitoring by bureaucracy and political leadership helped the state to win the battle against Nipah, said district medical officer Dr V Jayasree who was at ground zero from day one.
Read more of this success story in a report by Ramesh Babu published in Hindustan Times....
