‘You should look after our children well’: Kerala nurse who died of Nipah virus in last message to husband

Lini contracted the infection while treating other victims of Nipah virus. To prevent further spread of the infection, her body was cremated in an electric crematorium immediately without handing it over to her family.

Lini Puthussery died on Monday due to Nipah virus infection

“Don’t think I will be able to meet you again. You should look after our children well,” was the last message from a nurse in Kerala who succumbed to the rare Nipah virus infection in Kerala on Monday. Lini Puthussery, a nursing assistant, contracted the disease while attending to three victims infected with the virus. To prevent further spread of the infection, her body was cremated in an electric crematorium immediately without handing it over to her family.

Lini was already running a fever but reported to the hospital as it was understaffed on Monday. “Sajeeshetta, Am almost on the way….Don’t think I will be able to meet you. Sorry. You should look after our children well. Poor Kunju, you should take him to the Gulf once. Should not be alone like our father. Plz …With lots of love,” she wrote in a letter addressed to her husband. She is survived by her husband and two sons, aged 7 and 2.

Kerala has been put on high alert after the rare Nipah virus claimed ten lives in the state. More deaths with similar symptoms have been reported from the state and have been sent for further tests. The Centre has also dispatched a rapid response team to contain the outbreak.

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Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is also closely monitoring the situation. “All efforts are also being made to ensure that more lives are not lost,” Vijayan said, adding that the government was handling the issue with ‘utmost seriousness.’

Also called as NiV, the infection is spread mainly by fruit bats and can both affect humans as well as domestic animals including dogs, cats, goats, horses and sheep. The disease was first reported in India in 2001 and the infection in humans has a range of clinical presentations, from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory syndrome and fatal encephalitis.

Nipah virus infection: First-ever case, symptoms, treatment

The infection presents as an encephalitic syndrome marked by fever, headache, drowsiness, disorientation, mental confusion, coma, and potentially death. The patient can also slip into coma within 48 hours.

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