This is the second case of Mpox in India.The earlier case of Mpox that emerged in the national capital was a 26-year-old resident of Haryana’s Hisar, who tested positive for the West African Clade 2 strain. He was admitted to Delhi’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital on September 8 and was discharged on September 21.Mpox infections, which manifest with fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes, last two to four weeks, and patients recover with supportive medical care. “It is a self-limiting disease and cannot be compared with COVID,” officials said.Notably, the Union Health Ministry issued a fresh advisory to all states and union territories to track, test, and treat suspected mpox cases after a man who had travelled to India from a country with reported infections tested positive and was isolated in a Delhi government hospital.In a detailed advisory to states and union territories, the Centre directed them to implement public health measures such as contact tracing and monitoring. Issued by Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra, the advisory urged states to enhance surveillance, screening, testing, and contact tracing of all suspected mpox cases. States were also instructed to identify hospital isolation units for suspected and confirmed patients and ensure senior officials review public health preparedness, particularly at the state and district health facility levels.The advisory noted that most mpox cases are young males with a median age of 34 (18-44), with sexual contact being the most common mode of transmission, followed by non-sexual person-to-person contact.The most frequently reported symptom is a rash (including systemic or genital), followed by fever. Additionally, 51.9% of cases with available HIV data involve individuals living with HIV.On August 14, the WHO had declared Mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that is rapidly spreading to neighbouring African countries.
Source link
