India to issue guidelines in view of rising cases of Monkeypox in other countries: Report

Amid the rising cases of Monkeypox reported across several countries, India is all set to release guidelines in connection to the possibility of the infection spreading in the country. While no cases of Monkeypox have been detected in India so far, the Union Health Ministry will be issuing the necessary guidelines shortly, ANI reported citing sources. 

Notably, this comes in view of the already prevailing COVID-19 pandemic which rattled the entire healthcare sector following which India now needs to remain prepared as cases continue to grow in certain non-endemic countries. Some of the aforesaid countries include the USA, UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Canada, Austria, Canary Islands, Israel, and Switzerland.

When it comes to the guidelines, it is expected to include several principles of management for tackling the possibility of the infection spreading in India, such as isolation, contact tracing, contact monitoring, preventive measures and risk assessment. In addition to that, the Centre will also issue an advisory for international passengers to avoid the risk of transmission from foreign passengers. 

Some of the guidelines in regards are:

• Close contact with sick people and contact with dead or alive wild animals such as mammals including rodents and non-human primates (monkeys, apes) should be avoided.
• Contact with contaminated materials used by sick people should also be avoided.
• If one develops symptoms suggestive of monkeypox like fever with rash or were in an area where Monkeypox has been reported or came in contact with a person who has symptoms of Monkeypox, they should consult the nearest health facility at the earliest.

WHO urges countries to increase surveillance

Notably, as identified by the World Health Organization (WHO), Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe. In this regard, a positive case of the infection will be only considered if it is confirmed by the monkeypox virus through various methods including detection of unique sequences of viral DNA either by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and/or sequencing. 

In the meantime, with around 200 confirmed cases and over 100 suspected ones, the WHO has also urged infected countries to increase surveillance for the disease among the people. 

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