Three New Zika Infections Have Been Detected In Kerala

Others who were diagnosed including a 46-year-old man who received treatment at a private hospital and a 29-year-old nurse from the same facility. Their samples were verified in a Coimbatore lab.

The district has so far reported 18 cases of Zika virus, the first of which was confirmed on Thursday in a pregnant lady. The next day, 13 further cases were reported among healthcare personnel in a private hospital.

The health officials took 17 samples after the initial incident, all of which came out negative. On Saturday, one of the 27 tests from the second batch tested positive. The most recent three positive findings were from the third batch of eight samples.

Health Minister Veena George said that testing will be expanded to more government labs for detecting Zika virus. She stated that the facility will be available shortly at the Public Health Lab. In the state, there are 27 government labs with RT-PCR testing capabilities. The agency has devised a strategy to combat the mosquito-borne disease, with a special focus on pregnant women, as the disease is thought to have a particularly negative impact on them during the first four months of pregnancy.

However, the Kerala government has set up Zika testing laboratories at medical college hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Thrissur, and Kozhikode, after purchasing 2,100 testing kits from the National Institute of Virology in Pune. The RT-PCR technique can detect Zika virus in blood and urine samples. The use of blood samples has been advocated by NIV Pune. For the test, five millilitres of blood from a probable Zika-infected person will be obtained, and the serum will be separated.