'Nipah victim had heart attack just before administration of medicines; funeral as per protocol'

Kozhikode: Holding that the death of the 14-year-old boy due to Nipah is 'a very sad incident', Health Minister Veena George said that everybody tried their best to bring the child back to life. The Minister clarified that further steps will be taken as per the protocol and the funeral will be decided after consultation with the family members.

Antibody medicine from Australia and a vaccine from Pune were brought to Kozhikode Medical College to save the child. He suffered a heart attack at 10.50 am just before the administration of those medicines. His blood pressure went down. And there was internal bleeding following which the death occurred. The child was confirmed to have Nipah following the tests conducted at the Kozhikode Virology Lab and at the Pune Virology Institute the other day.

The child had developed a fever on July 11. At first, treatment was sought from a paediatrician at Pandikkad. As the fever did not subside, he went to a nearby private hospital. From there, after his illness worsened, the boy was shifted to Maulana Hospital in Perinthalmanna. From there, he was transferred to a private hospital in Kozhikode on the night of July 19. Then only it was suspected to be Nipah and the sample was sent for testing. The child's parents, uncle and a friend are under observation in the isolation ward of Kozhikode Medical College.

Currently, 246 people, including 63 ones under the high risk category, are in the contact list. Out of this, the samples of four people who are at high risk have been sent for testing. Two of them have Nipah symptoms. Meanwhile, a person on the contact list has been diagnosed with viral fever.