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A rumor broke out Saturday about the death toll in Nipah in Kerala. An international medical journal announced that the virus had killed 21 people, which contradicts the official figure of 17 deaths.
According to state government figures, the Nipah virus has killed 17 people – 14 in Kozhikode and 3 in Malappuram in the neighborhood since its epidemic in May this year.
The figure includes the death of Mohammed Sabith, the first victim, whose samples had not been tested for Nipah.
However, a recent report published in the "Journal of Infectious Diseases" indicated that the total number of deaths in Nipah in Kerala was 21.
Interestingly, the Secretary of State for Health, Rajeev Sadanandan, was among the experts who prepared the report of the study in the world newspaper.
Health Minister K. K Shylaja said the government estimates that 18 people have been tested positive for the deadly virus.
The government updated the death toll to 17 in July after the death of Sabith, the first victim whose samples had not been tested for Nipah.
The others did not show the symptoms of the deadly virus, but health officials could not confirm the infection because their samples were not collected, did they? she told the press Saturday in Kozhikode.
It seems, however, that the newspaper counted deaths as Nipah deaths, she said.
Sadanandan rejected the controversy sparked by the study report and said that there was no confusion about the numbers.
Of a total of 246 samples sent, 18 were confirmed clinically positive, he said.
"When you can not check the samples, it stays in the list of probable.
When we checked the records, four cases were identified as probable, but there were no samples, "he told PTI.
"Thus, there were a total of 23 cases, one index case (Sabith), 18 confirmed cases and four probable cases," he added, adding that the journal had its own criteria for preparing the report.
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