5 including children die from Nipah infection in a month

Indicating a difficult year, Bangladesh health authorities have confirmed eight cases of Nipah virus (NiV) infection and among them, five have already died while three others are undergoing treatment.

Officials at the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) confirmed that all the patients have a history of taking raw date palm juice.

Two of the Nipah-caused deaths took place in Rajbari and one each in Rajshahi, Naogaon and Pabna and among the victims, two were children and one was a woman.

Health Minister Zahid Malek on Sunday described the situation as an unprecedented one.

“Seventy per cent of the Nipah-infected patients died as there is no specific treatment for it. So, we urge all to remain cautious about drinking raw date palm juice as it is the main source of NiV spread in the country,” Zahid Maleque told the media after holding a meeting at the ministry that discussed the issue of increasing NiV cases and categorising of private hospitals, clinics or diagnostic centres across the country.

The minister admitted that the incidence of Nipah infection is higher than that of last year and said the health authorities are trying to contain the spread of the virus in sourcing areas.

“After so many years, we have received so many cases in a single month and it’s not a good sign,” an official of the IEDCR told The Business Post.

The IEDCR early this month warned people not to drink raw date palm juice to avoid such untoward situations.

Siting their data, they said that NiV infection has turned out to be the deadliest among all communicable diseases in Bangladesh in terms of mortality rate with 71 per cent of the 327 infected people in the past 22 years.

Regarding prevention, the IEDCR suggested everyone stop drinking raw date palm juice and consuming half-eaten fruits. But people can still drink date palm juice after boiling it or eat date molasses.

They also advised raw date juice collectors to clean their hands first after collecting the juice. So that secondary cases should not be increased.

All private hospitals will come under 4 categories

Zahid Maleque said the government will categorise all private hospitals into four categories based on their standard and service. The move is taken to streamline the private sector health services as they charge different ranges of fees for services and tests that invite suffering to the common people, said the minister.