Jaipur: Acute encephalitis cases will be on the radar in the state as Nipah infection can cause complications from acute respiratory syndrome to fatal encephalitis. Besides, the rapid response teams of health department under Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) have been directed to remain vigilant so that they can undertake early case detection and contact tracing upon request from national agencies.Taking a note of several deaths that occurred in Kerala due to Nipah virus, the health department has issued guidelines regarding human Nipah virus. It stated that clinicians should consider the possibility of Nipah virus (NiV) infection in persons who have fever and altered seizures and respiratory illness requiring hospitalisation and an appropriate travel to the affected area or exposure history in last 21 days.“We have issued guidelines on Nipah virus for all chief medical health officers and joint directors in the state,” said Dr Ravi Mathur, additional director (rural health). “All districts are instructed to enhance their surveillance for acute encephalitis through Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and to carefully review any unusual pattern,” says the guidelines issued on May 23.“These cases should be urgently investigated to rule out the prevalent causes of acute encephalitis before testing for Nipah virus disease,” says the guidelines issued by Dr VK Mathur, director (public health), health department. However, health department officials claimed that there is nothing to worry about as no such cases of Nipah virus has been reported in the state yet.Besides, directions have also been issued to all chief medical health officers and joint directors of health department to prepare plan and identify hospital/ward for early detection and isolation of NiV suspects, Hospital infection prevention and control practices should be strengthened. Health department officials said that large fruit bats of Pteropus genus are the natural reservoir of NiV.Health department officials pointed out that there are circumstantial evidence of human-to-human transmission in India in 2001. During the outbreak in Siliguri, 33 health workers and hospital visitors became ill after exposure to patients hospitalised with Nipah virus illness, suggesting nosocomial infection. He said that Nipah cases tend to occur in a cluster or as an outbreak.

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