VISAKHAPATNAM: A suspected monkeypox case was reported in the city on Saturday, the first such case in Visakhapatnam in north coastal Andhra Pradesh after Vijayawada in July.
According to the district medical and health department officials, the patient is a 23-year-old medical student of a private medical college, having a history of travelling to Hyderabad.
District medical health officer K. Vijaya Lakshmi said the student with suspicious symptoms was placed in the ward of a private teaching hospital where he was a student, and a special medical team was appointed to monitor the case as per the orders of collector A. Mallikarjuna.
“We are not confirming that it is a monkeypox case, but as a precaution, we have isolated the person and are in the process of sending necessary samples to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. We are also on the job of identifying the contacts of the case as a precautionary measure. People need not panic over this, but be careful,” Lakshmi said.
According to the World Health Organisation, monkeypox is a viral zoonosis transmitted from animals to humans. Its symptoms are similar to smallpox, but much less severe. Symptoms include fever, sores on the body and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to complications. It is usually a self-limiting disease. Symptoms last for two to four weeks. An infected person should be isolated to prevent the spread of the virus. No one should share his bedding, clothes or towels.
“Anti-Covid protocol of hand washing, use of masks and sanitisers should also help in this regard,” said a senior VIMS doctor. Nine cases of monkeypox have been reported in the country so far, including one death in Kerala.
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