Doctors dismiss Ebola fear in Chennai

Chennai:A passenger who arrived at the Chennai airport on Saturday night from the Republic of Guinea in West Africa via Dubai on an Emirates Airlines flight, was stopped by the immigration authorities on suspicion of being affected by the Ebola virus. Parthiban Venkatesan (26), a native of Theni who is employed in a plastic company in Guinea, was taken to Rajiv Gandhi government general hospital at 11.30 pm for various tests and was discharged on Sunday afternoon.

 

Doctors at the hospital said he was perfectly fine and various tests had been conducted only as a precautionary measure. A senior health department officer at Chennai airport said that the directorate general of health services had instructed them to refer Ebola virus suspect cases to the Communicable Diseases Hospital, Tondiarpet or Madras Medical College hospital. “In Mr Pathiban’s case, we sent him to the MMC hospital,” the officer added.

 

“When he reached the hospital, he was totally free of symptoms such as high fever and sore throat among others. But, we conducted various tests so as to make sure that there’s no threat of the Ebola virus,” said a senior doctor. 

 

Blood test, kidney and liver function tests showed normal and doctors have sent blood sample to a laboratory in Pune to confirm it is negative for the Ebola virus. The result will be available only after three days.

 

Dr S. Raghunathan, professor of medicine and deputy medical superintendent of the government hospital said there was no need to panic. “It’s not an airborne disease and it can spread from person to person only if somebody comes in close contact with the affected person. Though he is back in his native Theni district, he will be under surveillance by health inspectors for 21 days. The incubation period, which is the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms is 2-21 days,” Dr Raghunathan said.