With 71% death rate, Nipah is deadliest infectious disease in Bangladesh

Infograph: TBS

Nipah virus infection has turned out to be the deadliest among all communicable diseases in Bangladesh in terms of mortality rate, with 71% of the 327 people who had contracted the virus in the last 22 years dying from the disease, says the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control, and Research.

The victims acquired the virus principally through consumption of date palm sap contaminated with bat saliva or urine, adds the state-owned research institute.

The fatality rate in any other infectious disease in the country is much lower than that of the Nipah virus, public health experts have said, adding that everyone is so scared about the coronavirus but the death rate in coronavirus is merely 1.23%.

They advised people not to consume raw date palm juice and fallen half-eaten fruits to prevent Nipah virus infections.

Meanwhile, one person died from Nipah virus in the country in the first 10 days of this year. 

The victim was a woman hailing from Rajshahi, and had a history of consuming raw date palm juice, said speakers at a conference themed "Contagious diseases of winter and Nipah virus infection", organised by the IEDCR on Wednesday.

Three cases of Nipah were reported in 2022, and two of them died, disclosed the speakers. 

IEDCR Director Professor Tahmina Shirin said Nipah virus spreads through the saliva or urine of bats. People get infected with the virus when they drink contaminated raw date palm sap. Those persons then spread the infection to their family members or health workers.

In a presentation titled "Nipah surveillance in Bangladesh", Dr Sharmin Sultana, senior scientific officer of the IEDCR, said the Nipah virus was first detected in the country in 2001 in Meherpur. Since then, cases of Nipah virus have been reported in the country every year except for 2002, 2006, and 2016.

In 2011, there was an outbreak of the Nipah virus in Lalmonirhat as 22 people were infected with the virus in the northern district that year, with 21 of them succumbing to death, she said.

The IEDCR has surveillance in eight medical college hospitals in the country for Nipah patient identification. Most cases of Nipah virus infections are detected in the December-April period. So far, people in 32 districts across the country have contracted the Nipah virus.

A body temperature of 101.3°F or higher and evidence of acute brain pathology (altered mental status, new onset seizures, or new neurological deficit either diffused or localised to the brain) are symptoms of the Nipah virus, say doctors.

Dr Sharmin Sultana said a person usually takes 8-9 days after drinking contaminated raw date palm sap to show symptoms of a Nipah virus infection. In the case of human-to-human transmission, symptoms appear after 6-11 days, she added.

The majority of Nipah patients in the country die within three days of hospitalisation, the IEDCR said.

According to IEDCR researchers, date juice is safe to drink once it is boiled and so is molasses.

The organisation has advised date juice collectors to wash their hands with soap after collecting the juice.

In another presentation at the event, Dr Manzur Hossain Khan, assistant professor of the department of virology at the IEDCR, said in addition to the Nipah virus, Rotavirus infections, pneumonia, exacerbation of asthma, chicken pox, common cold, rhinovirus/ respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) / adeno/ parainfluenza (respiratory virus), bronchiolitis, also occur in the winter season in Bangladesh.

Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrheal disease in infants and young children worldwide, he said, adding that children less than five years of age, especially those in the 6-23 months' group, ‍are the population at risk, he noted.

In Bangladesh, Rotavirus infection peaks in the months of November to February when approximately 80% of the infections take place.

Antibiotics are ineffective in the treatment of the common cold, added Dr Manzur Hossain Khan.