Losing your hope and faith in life is like losing immunity to a virus. This proverb tries to say that if you lose faith in your life, it's similar to losing your immunity to a virus that might ruin your life. One such virus for which one has to be confident in its cure with proper diagnosis and treatment is the Nipah virus.
The outbreak of the Nipah virus was seen in 1998 in peninsular Malaysia among pigs and pig farmers. Later in 2001, in the Meherpur District, Bangladesh, and Siliguri, the India Nipah virus was reported. Let's have a look at the Nipah virus symptoms, its diagnosis, and treatment options.
Nipah virus (NiV) is a virus that gets transmitted mainly through fruit bats, but it can also be transmitted through pigs and other animals. It can result in severe symptoms like death; however, there is no vaccine or medication for it. The Nipah virus is very common in Asia, especially in India and Bangladesh.
Nipah virus is considered to be a bat-borne and zoonotic virus that could cause Nipah virus infection in humans. This infection could result in human and other animal deaths. It is a disease with a high mortality rate. Several Nipah virus disease outbreaks have happened in Southeast Africa and Southeast Asia.
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The Nipah virus shows many symptoms. The symptoms of the Nipah virus might include :
One can see the Nipah virus symptoms beginning within four to 14 days after exposure to it. Initially, you may see a fever or headache, then you could have respiratory problems like a cough and breathing difficulty.
In serious cases of this virus, a person can see a brain infection (encephalitis), which may be harmful to their life. Its other severe symptoms include :
Many things became the reason for the occurrence of the Nipah virus. Nipah viruses are caused by the following :
The symptoms of Nipah virus infection can be asymptomatic, mild, or serious respiratory symptoms. Symptoms of the Nipah virus appear 4–14 days after a person's exposure to NiV, and they are non-specific. A phase of acute encephalitis might follow these non-specific symptoms. Acute encephalitis might rapidly develop into a coma within 24–48 hours in some people.
Many individuals who survive the acute encephalitis stage have a full recovery; however, death due to the NiV happens in an estimated 40–75% of cases. Among the survivors of acute encephalitis, residual neurological consequences like seizure disorders and personality changes might be seen in 20% of the individuals. A few people might get the delayed-onset disease, which is called dormant or latent infection.
The primary symptoms of Nipah virus infection are often nonspecific, which makes it difficult to have an early diagnosis. This difficulty may hinder proper detection and control at the right time.
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There are no antiviral medications available to treat the Nipah virus. However, there are some ways and medications that could manage its symptoms. This treatment option includes:
Currently, a few researchers are studying the monoclonal antibody treatment for the Nipah virus.
If you speak about the treatment for Nipah virus, it can be divided into two types:
As mentioned above, treatment for the Nipah virus is limited to supportive care in many ways, like rest, hydration, and treatment of particular symptoms when they occur. Here are some of the medications used to treat the Nipah virus symptoms :
However, you can use these medications to treat the symptoms of the Nipah virus only if they are recommended by your doctor.
Nipah virus gets easily spread via close contact with infected animals or humans. To lower the risk of infection, you can follow these professional precautions:
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Nipah virus could exist for 3 days in a few fruit juices or mango fruits. The Nipah virus has a half-life of 18 hours in fruit bat urine. NiV is stable in the environment and remains viable at 70 °C for one hour. This virus could be fully inactivated by heating them at 100 °C for more than 15 minutes. However, the viability of the virus in its natural environment might differ depending on various conditions. NiV could be easily inactivated by detergents, soaps, and commercially available disinfectants like sodium hypochlorite.
Conclusion
Nipah virus infection is a communicable zoonotic disease that was first discovered in domestic pigs in Malaysia and Singapore during the years 1998 and 1999. Many reasons, like close contact with the infected animals, contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons or animals, etc., can cause this Nipah virus infection. Nipah virus is characterised by symptoms like headache, fever, breathing difficulties, cough, sore throat, diarrhoea, etc. Many diagnosis methods, like real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), etc., are used to find out the Nipah virus infection. There is no medication to treat the Nipah virus infection, but its symptoms can be treated with the medications prescribed by the doctor. Some precautions, like not handling bats, maintaining proper food safety, practising good hygiene habits, isolation, quarantine, etc., have to be followed to protect yourself from the Nipah virus infection.
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