Hyderabad two suspected Nipah Virus patients test negative

Hyderabad: It has been confirmed by the health department on Friday that the two suspected patients of Nipah Virus (NiV) infection who were admitted to Fever Hospital and Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) have been tested negative.

A 24-year-old software engineer was referred to Fever Hospital from a corporate hospital in Gachibowli after he had flu-like symptoms while another 22-year-old patient at NIMS is now in a coma as he is suffering from encephalitis.

“One among the two cases went to Kerala. I spoke to National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) officials who are in Kerala who said that the place the man has been to is hundreds of kilometres away from localities where Nipah virus cases are reported. So chances for him to test positive are less,” Telangana Director of Medical Education Dr K Ramesh Reddy had said.

The samples of both the patients were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. The senior doctors from the city travelled to Pune on Thursday and test results were obtained within hours. The swab samples of both the patients had tested negative, officials confirmed as per a report by Telangana Today.

Dr. Reddy had said that there was no need to panic and that the samples were taken just to be safe.