Monkeypox dos & don'ts issued by state health dept
Mumbai: The state
health department
on Monday issued
guidelines
on
monkeypox
, a
viral infection
that can
spread
between people through close contact or via surfaces touched by a patient.“We must remember there is no case of monkeypox in the country so far. There is no need to worry,” said Dr Radhakishan Pawar, deputy director of health in state health services.However, as one case of monkeypox – or Mpox – was a few days back isolated in Pakistan, the Indian health ministry held a stock-taking meeting to assess readiness of the system to monkeypox, which was declared as a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation recently.
The new outbreak in Africa has been spreading rapidly and has been traced to a new variant “clade Ib”. It is said clade Ib primarily spreads through household contacts and often affects children; it is not fatal in most cases but there is no specific treatment.
The state health department on Monday said all district-level health departments and municipal corporations have been told to maintain active case surveillance. Close surveillance at airports and ports must be monitored, it said.State public health commissioner Amgothu Shri Ranga Nayak has issued instructions to the regional deputy director of health, health officers, municipal corporation health officers, district health officers, and district surgeons to conduct monkeypox surveys and carry out prevention and control-related measures in their areas.
We also published the following articles recently
Mpox becomes global health emergency: Clade 1 vs Clade 2; differences in symptoms and severityWHO declared mpox a global health emergency following over 15,000 cases and 537 deaths. The current outbreak, driven by the more deadly clade 1b, has extended to central African regions and countries like Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Clade 1 strains are more severe and fatal compared to the milder clade 2 strains seen previously.
Mpox outbreak declared a public health emergency by Africa CDC; all about the fast-spreading variantThe Africa CDC declared a public health emergency due to the spread of a deadly mpox strain, urging containment to prevent an epidemic. The Democratic Republic of Congo has seen alarming rates. Mpox, a zoonotic disease, can spread via direct contact. It's essential for travelers to isolate for up to 3 weeks if infected.
WHO declares mpox a global public health emergency as new transmissible virus strain spreadsThe World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreaks in Congo and other African nations a global emergency, citing 208 deaths and over 99,000 cases. The outbreaks are driven by a new, more transmissible strain. Vaccine shortages in Africa have exacerbated the crisis, with efforts underway to secure 10 million doses for the continent.
