Nurse dies of unknown virus in Rajasthan

A male nurse of a private hospital here died of an unknown disease while another, who displayed similar symptoms, was flown to AIIMS in New Delhi by an air ambulance in critical condition.
Both the attendants were serving in the hospital's ICU till Saturday afternoon and fell ill the same day, triggering suspicion that they contracted some infection in the hospital itself.
The family members of the deceased nurse said that five carers were looking after a patient in the ICU who had died three days ago.
"All of them had developed health complications. The day after two of them fell seriously ill and another left for Ahmedabad for treatment," said a family member of the deceased nurse.

The hospital's PRO, Kuldeep Goswami, said the nurse, Dinesh Chouhan, had come to the hospital on Sunday morning.
"We immediately administered a blood test that confirmed that he did not contract dengue, swine flu or any other noticeable virus," Goswami said.

"We started the treatment on the basis of the symptoms using high doses of antibiotics, but the patient reached the stage of multiple organ failure followed by sharp drop in platelet count and died on Sunday night," said Goswami.
A sample of his serum has been sent to a Pune-based microbiology laboratory for detailed study.
"The other patient, Shravan Kumar, was rushed to AIIMS in New Delhi this evening by an air ambulance on the request of his family. His condition was also critical," he said.

Meanwhile, a team of health officials has reached the hospital and initiated an inquiry into the matter.
One of the team members, CMHO Yuddhveer Singh, confirmed the two nurses' condition was serious and said that many viruses can lead to sharp decline in the count of platelets.
"But since this virus has not yet been identified, its diagnosis is imperative. But we will have to wait for the report from the Pune laboratory to reach any conclusion," he said.
"We are trying get in touch with the patient who went to Ahmedabad for treatment while the rest two are fine. I met them during my visit to the hospital," he said adding that there was no reason of panic.