What is Nipah Virus, Symptoms, Testing and Treatments

What is Nipah Virus:

A bat-borne virus that causes Nipah virus infection in animals and humans, this disease is fatal to humans and animals alike, and its scientific name is Nipah henipavirus. South and Southeast Asia have experienced several outbreaks of the Nipah virus. Both the Nipah virus and Hendra virus are members of the genus Henipavirus, as well.

This virus causes an infection known as the Nipah virus. Acute infections may cause any combination of symptoms, including fever, headache, shortness of breath, and confusion. Over the next day or two, this may progress to a coma, with 50% to 75% of those infected dying. As a result of the healing process, the brain can become inflamed and develop seizures.

Nipah Virus Outbreaks:

An outbreak in Malaysia in 1998 was the first to be identified by a team of researchers from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. University of Malaya Medical Centre was the preferred place for referring and treating most of the patients in Malaysia with the disease. An isolate and identification of the virus were made in 1999. This disease derives its name from a Malaysian village called Sungai Nipah. Malaysian authorities killed millions of pigs as a preventative measure in 1999 to stop the spread of disease, a measure that proved effective.

Nipah Virus in India:

An outbreak of the Nipah virus caused an outbreak in Kerala in 2018. This outbreak was traced back to fruit bats living in the area. In Kerala, 17 people died in a localized outbreak that swept through Kozhikode and Malappuram districts. The outbreak was contained on 10 June. It is the third outbreak of the Nipah virus reported in India, after those in 2001 and 2007. Both of those were in the eastern state of West Bengal.

The Nipah virus recently killed a young boy. The symptom has been observed in many people since then. Children who ate a fruit were allegedly afflicted with Nipah. An examination of this fruit sample will then be performed at the National Institute of Virology Pune (NIV Pune). Rambutan is the name of this fruit. During the 2021 outbreak of the Nipah virus in Kerala, the zoonotic variety of the virus was discovered. One person died from the outbreak, which occurred in Chathamangalam Gram Panchayat in the Kozhikode district of Kerala. As of 5th September 2021, the outbreak had been contained. A Nipah Virus outbreak has been confirmed in Kerala for the third time, after earlier outbreaks in 2018 and 2019. Several members of a National Center for Disease Control team have been dispatched to the state to help with technical assistance. All those involved in the treatment of the boy and his family have been placed under quarantine.

Symptoms of Nipah Virus:

Within five to fourteen days following infection, symptoms start appearing. A fever, headache, and drowsiness are common early symptoms followed by agitation and disorientation. In the early stages, patients may also experience respiratory issues. An individual may experience coma symptoms within 24 to 48 hours. It is a potentially fatal side effect of Nipah virus infection to suffer from encephalitis, inflammation of the brain. A patient with a respiratory illness is more likely to transmit Nipah than a patient without respiratory illness, as well as a patient over 45 years old. Individuals with symptoms of the disease are suspected as part of an outbreak.

• Fever
• Headache
• Muscle Pain (myalgia)
• Vomiting
• Sore Throat

A number of serious conditions can follow these symptoms, including:

• Dizziness
• Drowsiness
• Altered Consciousness
• Acute Encephalitis
• Atypical Pneumonia
• Severe Respiratory
• Seizures

Risks of Nipah Virus:

Personnel working in hospitals or caring for those infected with the virus are particularly vulnerable to exposure. There are infected people in Malaysia and Singapore through close contact with infected pigs infected with the Nipah via several factors that have been implicated in causing the disease in Bangladesh and India, including consuming raw date palm sap (toddy), eating bat-inhabited fruits, and drinking from the bat-infested well.

Testing and Treatment of Nipah Virus:

The detection of RNA from throat swabs, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, and blood can be done using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in acute and convalescent stages. Infections caused by the Nipah virus can be confirmed by IgG and IgM antibody detection following recovery. Additionally, autopsy tissues are immunohistochemistry confirmed to have been infected.

Nipah virus infection cannot currently be treated by any specific method. Supportive care is the cornerstone of treatment. To prevent the spread of infection from person to person, standard infection control practices and barrier nursing techniques should be utilized. The Nipah virus must be isolated in any case suspected of being infected by it. Studies on specific antibodies in animals have also shown that they could be beneficial. There have been discussions regarding the development of antivirals against the Nipah virus using acyclovir, favipiravir, and remdesivir.