Mpox case in India: ‘No need to panic,’ say health experts
Updated: Sep 9th, 2024
Mpox in India |
Amid one suspected case of Mpox detected in Delhi, health experts in the country today advised not to panic as the monkeypox virus (MPXV) has minimal pandemic potential.
Previously, the government on September 8 informed a suspected case of Mpox in a young male patient in the country, who has been isolated in a designated hospital and is under investigation.
The patient recently travelled from a country currently experiencing Mpox transmission. “The patient has been isolated in a designated hospital and is currently stable,” said the ministry.
The Centre today advised the states and union territories to screen, test, and trace contact of all suspect Mpox cases.
The states and UTs were also advised to identify isolation facilities in hospitals for both suspect and confirmed patients.
“No new case of Mpox has been reported in India in the current outbreak, and none of the samples in suspected cases have tested positive,” said Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra. He also emphasised the need to stay alert.
Health experts dismiss nationwide paranoia
“There is no need to panic. While fatality remains high, transmission is possible only among close contacts,” the additional professor at the centre for community medicine at AIIMS, New Delhi, told agencies.
“Subliminal infections are all minimal, hence chances of widespread pandemic with monkeypox is minimal,” he added.
Mpox is a viral disease identified as fever, rash, and lymphadenopathy -- a condition that causes lymph nodes to swell or become abnormally shaped or sized. It is a self-limiting disease and patients recover within four weeks, he said.
The suspected case of Mpox in India comes amidst a global outbreak that has spread to about 13 countries in Africa, forcing the WHO to declare it a global health emergency.
The outbreak is driven majorly by a more deadly strain – Clade 1b. Outside of Africa, Clade 1b has to date caused one case each in Sweden and Thailand.
It is immediately not clear whether the suspected patient in India is linked to the more deadly strain of Mpox.
“With the government’s declaration of the first suspected case of Mpox, everybody is worried, but there is no need to panic. As the infection is being transmitted only through sexual or intimate contact, it will not become a big problem like Covid-19,” a noted HIV expert told agencies.
However, he stressed the need to “educate and train the medical community for managing, diagnosing and detecting Mpox properly. And to increase the effectiveness of laboratories in number and their workload”.
Last week, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) approved an indigenously developed RT-PCR test for the deadly infectious disease.
(With inputs from syndicated feed)
Your privacy
By clicking “Accept all cookies”, you agree Gujarat Samachar can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy