PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, May 29: With the monkeypox outbreak being reported in several countries across the world, NHM Jharkhand Mission Director Aditya Anand has issued an advisory to the Civil Surgeons of all the districts of the state.
He has also directed them to take special precautions. Although no cases have been reported in India so far, the Jharkhand government is bracing to fight the virus in case it makes its way into the country. District Surveillance Unit and IDSP have also been instructed to increase surveillance regarding monkeypox.
In the advisory issued by the Mission Director, Health facilities in the state have been advised to keep vigil over people who have a travel history to a country that has recently confirmed cases of monkeypox and have rashes on their bodies in the last 21 days.
The Mission Director has directed the health facilities to send the samples of suspects to ICMR-NIV, BSL-4 Laboratory, Pune for testing.
He has also directed that in case of a positive case is detected, contact tracing has to be initiated immediately to identify the contacts of the patient in the last 21 days.
All suspected cases are to be isolated at designated healthcare facilities until all lesions have resolved and a fresh layer of skin has formed. All such patients are also to be reported to the District Surveillance officer of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme.
Countries including Britain, Germany, Canada and USA have now started evaluating how smallpox vaccines might be used to stem the outbreak. The WHO said its expert group was assessing the evidence and would provide guidance soon.
No vaccines have been specifically developed against monkeypox, but the WHO estimates that smallpox vaccines are about 85% effective.
Most monkeypox patients experience only fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People with more serious illnesses may develop rash and lesions on the face and hands that can spread to other parts of the body.
Till now, the cases of monkeypox have been also reported in certain non-endemic countries including the USA, UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Canada, Austria, Canary Islands, Israel, and Switzerland.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), non-endemic countries are those wherein the present series of outbreaks are being reported, but it is for the first time that chains of transmission are being reported without known epidemiological links.
A positive case will be considered only if it is confirmed for the monkeypox virus (by detection of unique sequences of viral DNA either by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and/or sequencing).
