NELLORE/VIJAYAWADA: Health Department officials are asking private medical and nursing colleges in the district to extend the leaves of students who have gone to Kerala to prevent the spread of Nipah virus.Several students from Kerala pursue ANM, GNM, B.Sc and paramedical courses in the 25 nursing and paramedical colleges in Nellore. As many as 200 students from Kerala study in Bollineni College of Nursing located in the city’s outskirts.
Normally, students vacate hostels after completing varsity examinations and return for the next academic year. Fearing the spread of Nipah virus in Kerala, Medical and Health officials want private colleges to extend the leaves of Malayali students as a precaution.
“We have deployed a team of doctors for screening students who return from the state. A few students of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences (NTRUHS) are now returning to their colleges to take supplementary exams which will commence on June 1,” A Ashok, Principal of Bollineni College of Nursing, said.
Managements of private medical and nursing colleges are facing trouble while conducting screening tests as staffers fear that if they force students to attend the tests, they would complain to their parents and cause problems.“We have asked private colleges to allow students from Kerala to attend supplementary examinations after a screening test.
We are going to create awareness among people about Nipah virus. A draft has been sent for approval to the district administration,” said Dr. C. Varasundaram, DM&HO.However, authorities of NTRUHS denied that they were considering extension of holidays. Certain officials of the Health Department said the proposal was just a suggestion and may or may not be okayed. NTRUHS registrar Dr S Appala Naidu said giving more leaves to only a few students could cause disturbances in the academic year.
There is no official order from the university to its medical and nursing colleges regarding the matter.
He, however, said the students were free to avail any number of leaves if they so required. He said students who returned from the coastal state would be screened and sent to isolation wards if found infected.
Nursing colleges in Vijayawada city too are not extending the holidays of students from the State. In fact, some colleges advised students not to travel to Kerala at all until the virus had been contained.
“There are no Kerala students in our college right now, but other institutions in the nursing colleges association have advised students not to go for vacation. Those students who did go can avail long leave,” N Ramana Reddy, who works at Florence Nightingale Nursing College, said. Krishna district DM&HO Padmaja Rani asserted that she had received no order from higher -ups regarding leaves. “We are taking all required measures to avoid the transmission of the virus,” she said.