Monkeypox Virus- Health Ministry Released Guidelines To Prevent Disease
As Monkeypox cases are increasing worldwide, many countries including the USA, UK, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Canada, Israel, and Switzerland have reported the Monkeypox cases.
On Tuesday, the Union Health Ministry issued clear guidelines on monitoring, detection, confirmation, and cure for this infectious disease. However, any Monkeypox case is not found in India yet, more than 300 possible or confirmed Monkeypox cases are found worldwide including non-endemic countries.
As per the guidelines of the Health Ministry, if a person is suspected to have a Monkeypox infection or has one of the symptoms like weird rashes, severe weakness, fever, headache, or body pain, they possibly have travelled to the affected countries in the last three weeks. Moreover, the infection will be confirmed only after a PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test or general material sequencing of the suspect’s sample by the National Institute of Virology-Pune.
Though the Health Ministry has asked IDSP (Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme) to stay alert about the Monkeypox cases with healthcare facilities, particularly dermatology clinics, medical clinics and clinics intended for sexually transmitted diseases.
The guidelines state, “Even one case of monkeypox is to be considered as an outbreak. A detailed investigation by the Rapid Response Teams needs to be initiated through IDSP.”
The ministry has also mentioned in the guidelines that the network must monitor the travellers from affected countries for 3 weeks to observe whether they have symptoms or not. If any traveller has symptoms, their sample should be collected and sent for tests.
The guidelines also cover the instructions for curing rashes on the skin and reducing symptoms like fever, headache, body ache, vomiting, itching, and more. Moreover, the guideline says that patients should be monitored during the isolation for signs like blurred vision, painful eyes, breathing issues, pain in the chest, altered consciousness, lesser urine output and lack of appetite.
