Treatment
Unfortunately, there is currently no known treatment for Nipah in humans. Recovery is based on how quickly the infection is noticed, as well as lots of rest, excessive quantities of water to flush the toxins out of the body, and general treatment as symptoms occur. In countries where Nipah is prevalent, people should wash hands regularly with soap and water, so as to limit the worsening of symptoms.
Should a person become infected with NiV, there are several steps to be taken. The first of these is to isolate the person for two weeks. This can be done within a house, where self-isolation is possible, or in a specific location established for infected people. The next step should be to trace contact cases, similar to the strategy deployed for fighting Covid-19. Once this is done, the infected person should be checked regularly for signs of worsening symptoms and brought to a hospital if these become too severe. This can include impaired breathing, excessive dizziness or strong headaches (which could be a sign of brain swelling). As drugs against this virus are purely experimental, it is not recommended to give them to infected people, as these could have particularly bad side effects, including death.
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If an animal (excluding bats) should become infected with Nipah, the first step is to protect the people around it. As Nipah is a zoonotic virus, it is possible that an animal infected with NiV would pass it on to humans around it. Once surrounding people are safe, the animal should be placed in isolation. This can be on the farm where it resides, should the farm have quarters far enough away from the other animals, or in a remote location. The animal should be checked on regularly for signs of worsening symptoms, and animals that were in contact with the infected specimen should be tested for infection.
Once these precautions are taken, it is then a matter of controlling symptoms. If any of the following symptoms are noticed at an unhealthy dose, the infected patient should be brought to a hospital and placed under medical supervision. These include fever, headaches, cough, sore throat, difficulty breathing, vomiting and myalgia (muscle pain). A base measure for whether or not these symptoms are dangerous is if they impact the person's or animal’s ability to carry out basic daily functions such as getting dressed, showering, eating or sleeping. Once the person is brought to a hospital more intensive treatments can be used against NiV. Immunotherapeutic treatments currently under development can be used. One such treatment, m102.4 has completed phase 1 of clinical trials and has been used in some extreme cases. Additionally, Ramdev Sivir, antiviral treatment has been effective in nonhuman primates. Finally, the drug Ribavirin has been used to treat a small number of patients in the initial Malaysian outbreak, but it’s unclear how well it works.