What is Nipah virus? All you need to know

Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja has confirmed that a 23-year-old college student in the state has been infected with Nipah virus and has been admitted to a hospital in Kochi.
Last year, an outbreak of Nipah virus killed more than a dozen people in Kerala.

Nipah virus infection causes severe disease in both animals and humans. The fatality rate is 40-75 per cent.

Fruit bats are the natural host of the Nipah virus. This virus can be transmitted from fruit bats to humans through food contaminated by the virus or from the animal that is contaminated by this virus. This disease is also transmitted through human-to-human directly when comes in contact.

What are the symptoms of Nipah virus?
Symptoms of this disease can range from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory infection which can be mild or severe to fatal encephalitis.

Symptoms of Nipah virus include fever, headaches, muscle pain, vomiting and sore throat. The disease can also show the symptoms of dizziness, drowsiness, altered consciousness, and neurological signs. Humans may also experience pneumonia and severe respiratory problems like respiratory distress.

Severe signs of the virus will include encephalitis and occurrence of seizure leading to coma within 24 to 48 hours.

The incubation period ranges from four to 14 days and in rare cases, even 45 days of incubation has been observed.

Since detection of Nipah virus during inception is non-specific, it can hinder accurate diagnosis and safety measures that could be taken to prevent its outbreak.

Treatment
There are no drugs or vaccine for Nipah virus for now but intensive care is recommended to treat severe respiratory and neurologic complications. People who survive acute encephalitis can be seen to have a long-term neurological effect such as seizure disorder and personality change.

How to prevent Nipah
Since no vaccine or medicines are available for Nipah, prevention and awareness may reduce the risk of exposure to the virus.

*Freshly-collected fruits should be thoroughly washed and peeled before consumption. Any fruit having signs of bat bites should be discarded.

*People should avoid interaction with infected animals without gloves and protective clothing.

*Close contact with people suffering from Nipah virus should be avoided. Regular hand washing should be carried out after caring for or visiting sick people.