Kerala: Nipah, Shigella situation under control despite 3 deaths

Kerala Health Minister K Muraleedharan says the Nipah & Shigella situation is under control, with 1 patient on a ventilator and 3 deaths from Shigella. Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan criticised the govt's handling of the outbreak.

Addressing concerns surrounding both the Nipah virus and Shigella infections in the state, Keralam Health Minister K Muraleedharan on Sunday stated that the situation remains under control. Talking to reporters regarding the Nipah virus cases, Muraleedharan said, "A patient remains on a ventilator after undergoing approximately 30 tests for Nipah virus, with 29 other individuals testing negative and showing no symptoms, indicating the situation is under control."

Providing a briefing on the current status of the Shigella outbreak, the Minister assured that the authorities are maintaining continuous vigilance and that all necessary medical protocols are being followed. "Additionally, 135 cases of Shigella have been reported with three deaths: a 3-year-old baby, a 4-year-old girl, and a 59-year-old housewife... Continuous monitoring is going on... Medicines are stocked and distributed... There is no communication gap within the team," he added.

Opposition alleges laxity in containment efforts

Meanwhile, the leader of opposition in Keralam, Pinarayi Vijayan, on Sunday, stated that during the LDF government's tenure, its Health Minister had camped in areas affected by Nipah outbreaks and closely coordinated containment efforts, adding that similar levels of field-level presence are not being seen at present. He said, "During the LDF government's tenure, when Nipah outbreaks occurred in the state, the then Health Minister camped in the affected area and coordinated the containment activities. However, it is unfortunate that such vigilance is not being seen now. The present government is handling the Nipah Control Room as though it were a place from which public representatives should stay away.

DHS Transfer Sparks Controversy

He further alleged that the current government is handling the Nipah Control Room in a manner that discourages involvement of public representatives, unlike earlier instances where their cooperation was actively sought in containment activities. Vijayan stated, "In the past, attention was given to organising containment activities with the cooperation of public representatives as well. It was when an extremely serious Nipah situation emerged that the government transferred the Director of Health Services (DHS). It is the Health Department that should provide effective leadership to the containment activities."

The leader also referred to the recent transfer of the Director of Health Services (DHS) during a serious Nipah situation, stating that such a move at a critical stage of outbreak management is unusual and should ideally be avoided, as the Health Department is expected to provide stable leadership. "Replacing the person at the helm of the department at such a stage is not something that would normally be expected. But the Health Minister says that the transfer was made because of non-cooperation with the system. A system relating to transfers within the department has been functioning transparently," Vijayan stated.

He added that while the Health Minister has attributed the transfer to "non-cooperation with the system," he believed the decision was linked to differences over the functioning of the department's internal transfer system, which he claimed had been operating transparently. "My understanding is that the DHS was transferred because he did not support the UDF government's attempt to dismantle that system", said Vijayan. (ANI)

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