Man with suspected Mpox symptoms isolated; Centre issues advisory to states
The Centre has advised states to screen, test and do contact tracing of all suspected Mpox patients, to isolate confirmed cases. no need to panic, says ministry
Even as a young male patient with suspected Mpox symptoms has been isolated, the Centre has advised states on Monday to screen, test and do contact tracing of all suspected Mpox, or monkeypox patients, and to isolate confirmed cases. This is to "prevent and/or minimise risk of any case or death due to Mpox in the country".
However, the government has said that "it is crucial that any undue panic amongst the masses is prevented".
Suspected Mpox case
On Sunday, a young man who recently returned to India from a country where confirmed cases have been reported was isolated and his samples are being tested to confirm if he has contacted the disease. His condition is reported to be stable. Since he travelled to a country with active Mpox transmission, he has been identified as a suspected Mpox case, said the Union health ministry.
The ministry did not release details about the case or the place of occurrence, but maintained that the patient has been isolated in a designated hospital. Contact tracing is also being done “to identify potential sources and assess the impact within the country”, the ministry said.
Health ministry directive
Meanwhile, in an advisory, the Union health ministry has asked states and Union territories to identify hospitals that can set up isolation facilities and be prepared to receive suspected and confirmed cases. These hospitals will need increased resources.
The health ministry directive also recommended that guidelines be issued to manage the “monkeypox disease" and to implement an elaborate surveillance strategy to track suspected cases and do contact tracing - similar to exhaustive measures at the height of the Covid pandemic. A review should be held study the public health preparedness, particularly at health facility level at state and districts by senior officials, advised the ministry.
This would involve briefing healthcare workers, "especially those working in skin/STD (sexually transmitted disease) clinics, about symptoms, differential diagnoses, and action to be taken following detection of a Mpox case".
The government also gave a list of "laboratories operationalised to undertake testing, clinical management protocol, infection prevention and control practices, as well as risk communication strategies”.
WHO latest updates
The health ministry also flagged the latest updates the World Health Organization gave on Mpox. According to WHO, majority of monkeypox patients are men between the age of 18 and 44, and present with rash (systemic or genital) followed by fever as the most common symptoms.
Mpox was declared a PHEIC, or Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
According to the WHO, Mpox cases have been reported in 120 countries from January 2022 to August 2024. There have been over 100,000 lab-confirmed cases and around 220 deaths.