The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: A 14-year-old child from Kerala’s Malappuram district succumbed to the Nipah virus on Sunday (July 21). The Union health ministry, in a statement today, said that the National Institute of Virology had confirmed the Nipah virus infection in the boy. He was undergoing treatment at Kozhikode Government Medical College.
The statement also said the Indian Council Of Medical Research (ICMR) had dispatched monoclonal antibodies, a drug, for the management of the disease, but the patient’s illness had reached an advanced stage, and therefore couldn’t be used.
However, Manorama Online quoted state health minister Veena George as saying that monoclonal antibodies from Australia had arrived even before the ones from ICMR. Those antibodies couldn’t be used. As per protocol, they have to be administered within the first five days of infection.
Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-produced artificial antibodies that act like antibodies of the immune system. They attach to the virus, and destroy it. They also stimulate the immune system to act. But they can only be administered when the disease is not advanced so as to prevent its severe form.
Mathrubhumi reported 246 individuals have been listed as contacts of the patient, with 63 classified as high-risk ones. They would be undergoing isolation, as per treatment protocol.
The New Indian Express quoted the state health minister as saying that special fever clinics would be set up in three areas near the panchayat from where the case was confirmed
“A house-to-house survey will be conducted in Pandikkad and Anakkayam panchayats to identify people with symptoms. There are 16,711 houses in Pandikkad and 16,248 houses in Anakkayam. A team consisting of officials from the health, local self-government, and animal husbandry departments, along with volunteers, will conduct the survey,” the state health minister said.
The union government also said in its statement that it is dispatching a ‘multi-member’ team to assist the state government in case identification and outbreak management.
This is the fifth outbreak of Nipah virus in Kerala since 2018. The state government has, by and large, been able to contain the outbreaks that occurred after 2018 using its past experiences and adherence to disease protocol.
Fruit bats are considered hosts of the Nipah virus from whom the infection is passed on to humans. Although, in the 2023 outbreak, the bat/environmental samples tested negative for Nipah while in other states, bats have tested positive for the virus. This has led to conjecture that silent Nipah outbreaks might be occurring in those states, which they are not able to identify as effectively as Kerala.
There is no vaccine to prevent the Nipah infection but reducing risk of bat-to-human transmission by adopting protective measures to those who deal with animals can be useful. According to WHO, the most common symptoms of this viral disease are fever, headaches, myalgia (muscle pain), vomiting and sore throat. This can be followed by dizziness, drowsiness, altered consciousness, and neurological signs that indicate acute encephalitis. Awareness about these symptoms can also help in preventing outbreaks.