KOZHIKODE: It all started with the death of Sabith (23), of Soopikada in Panthirikara near Perambra on May 5. As he had ulcers, relatives believe that viral fever along with the gastrointestinal disease claimed his life. But soon, the same symptoms were developed by his brother Salih (26), father Moosa (62), Salih’s fiancée Athifa (19) and Moosa’s brother Moidu’s wife Mariyam (50) in the following days. Soon, Salih succumbed to the disease on May 18, followed by Mariyam on the next day. Moosa is still on the ventilator while Moidu and Athifa are still in critical condition.
When the second member of the family showed up with the same symptoms, the panic button was pressed. But still, there was no inkling of Nipah so much so the Health Inspector reached the deceased's house sans any personal protection equipment. Mariyam and Moosa were admitted at Baby memorial hospital and it was Dr Anoop Kumar A.S, Consultant and Chief of Critical Care Medicine there and his team who stumbled upon the suspicion on May 18 that the victims were infected with the Nipah virus.
“Salih was admitted on May 17 and he showed more than usual viral encephalitis symptoms like high BP. Knowing that his brother died due to the same disease and three other relatives were sick, we called them, collected all their samples and sent them to the department of virus research, KMC Manipal. All the happenings and information were passed to the district medical office. On the next day, it was confirmed that it was not normal encephalitis but a rare lethal one,” said Dr Anoop Kumar. It took two more days, on May 20, for the directorate of health services (DHS) to officially confirm that the virus was Nipah, based on the findings from the National Institute of Virology, Pune. But all the medical fraternity came to know it on May 18 itself though officially they waited for the government’s announcement. Nipah had not been reported in South India till now.
So, what was the government doing between the first death on May 5 and second on May 18? “There are many cases of encephalitis. We cannot put a single death as isolated and start investigation on suspicion. The incubation period of Nipah virus is 4 to 14 days. The alarm was raised when the family members of the deceased Sabith showed similar symptoms,” explains district medical officer (DMO) Dr V. Jayashree. Dr Anoop also agrees with this. He lauds the quick intervention and says that the detection of the virus was fast compared to West Bengal, Malaysia and Bangladesh where Nipah hit.
But there are doubts. Why the authorities failed to isolate the family after its members developed similar symptoms post the death of Sabith does not have a satisfactory reply. The deceased underwent treatment at Perambra taluk hospital and Perambra EMS hospital before he was brought to Kozhikode. The lackadaisical attitude is indicated with grassroot level health workers lamenting that they were not provided a mask or gloves during their visit to the spot in the beginning. As on Monday, Nipah virus was confirmed in the cases of Salih, Moosa and Mariyam. Other results of samples are still awaited.
