Lok Nayak declared nodal centre as Delhi on alert for monkeypox – ET HealthWorld

NEW DELHI: Lok Nayak Hospital has been made the nodal centre for managing monkeypox cases in Delhi. While the city hasn’t reported any cases of the disease the state government has directed the hospital to be ready for isolation and treatment of suspected or confirmed cases should there be such a need, said sources.

The directive comes in the backdrop of a confirmed case of a 35-year-old man testing positive for monkeypox in Kollam district in Kerala, the first in India. Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director, Lok Nayak Hospital, confirmed the move, saying, “We are providing all scientific knowledge and the standard operating procedure (SOP) to our doctors and staff about isolation, contact tracing and management of monkeypox cases.”

Monkeypox is an acute viral disease with symptoms similar to smallpox symptoms, but milder. The initial symptoms of the disease include fever, intense headache, back pain, myalgia (muscle aches) and skin eruption. There is no active cure for the disease and treatment is mostly symptomatic, he added.

“Monkeypox isn’t as transmissible as Covid-19. Fatality due to the disease is also rare. However, there is concern about it since the disease is spreading to non-endemic regions for the first time,” said Dr Kabir Sardana, professor of dermatology, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

The first case of monkeypox in humans was reported in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Infectious disease experts say there have been very few monkeypox cases outside central and west Africa in the last 50 years. Since January 1 this year and as of June 22, WHO has reported 3,413 laboratory confirmed cases of monkeypox and one death in 50 countries, says a document shared by the Union health ministry. Of the cases, 80% are from the European Union region and 11% from the Americas.

Sardana said that all passengers coming from countries where the disease was endemic needed to be screened for symptoms. “The government should put up posters at the airports showing images of the skin eruptions — fluid-filled and raised with a central depression with a black discolouration, one of the most identifiable characteristics of the disease — so travellers can themselves report to the screening desk,” the RML doctor said. He added that timely detection and isolation of confirmed cases was key to preventing the spread of the disease.

A guideline issued by the health ministry recently stated that even one case of monkeypox is to be considered an outbreak. “It should trigger a detailed investigation by the rapid response teams. Action needs to be initiated through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme,” read the guideline sent to all states and Union territories.

A confirmed case is laboratory confirmed for monkeypox virus by detection of unique sequences of viral DNA either by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and/or sequencing. The guideline says contacts of a confirmed case should be monitored at least daily for the onset of signs or symptoms for a period of 21 days (as per case definition) from the last contact with a patient or contaminated materials during the infectious period.