Familiar Warning
Once again, a virus has arrived not with drama, but with quiet unease ~ a few infections, a hospital ward under watch, anxious contact tracing, and foreign airports tightening their gates.
The state virtually heaved a sigh of relief after the 33- year-old youth, undergoing treatment at the state-run Infectious Disease (ID) Hospital at Beliaghata showing symptoms of Nipah virus, tested negative on Friday.
The first Nipah virusinfected case in West Bengal was recorded in Nadia district in 2007 and since then no such case was there in the state.
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Samples of his nasal and throat swabs and blood were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for Nipah virus infection confirmatory test on Wednesday. All the samples were tested Nipah negative at the NIV.
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Sources at the health department said, the NIV conveyed the test report to Swasthya Bhaban today.
The patient of East Burdwan district recently returned home from Kerala where the Nipah virus has claimed two lives and affected many others. The youth, a migrant worker, had gone there several months ago.
He was admitted to the Calcutta National Medical College Hospital (CNMCH) at Park Circus with high fever, vomiting tendency, lung infections, swelling on legs and headache.
Doctors at the CNMCH referred him to the ID Hospital considering his travel history to the Nipahaffected Kerala.
An administrative official at the ID Hospital said that the patient is under medical observation. “We are relieved because his samples were tested negative at the NIV in Pune. He might be discharged from the hospital after a couple of days.”
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