India on alert for monkeypox, increased surveillance at international airports, instructions issued to states

New Delhi. The threat of pandemic is looming over the world once again. The World Health Organization has declared monkeypox a global emergency. This decision has been taken after the spread of this disease in Congo and other parts of Africa. Along with this, it has also been said that immediate steps should be taken to stop the infection of the virus. Meanwhile, the first case of a new form of monkeypox has also been found in a passenger from Sweden. Such a case was seen only in Africa till now. There is a possibility of increase in monkeypox cases in other European countries as well. Meanwhile, precautions are also being taken in India. The central government has increased surveillance at all international airports. Instructions have also been issued for the states. PM Modi’s Principal Secretary has also held an important meeting regarding this.

Centre asked to be cautious

The Union Health Ministry has asked the authorities of all airports as well as land ports located near the borders of Bangladesh and Pakistan to be cautious about international travellers due to ‘monkeypox’. The ministry has marked three centrally run hospitals (Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Lady Harding Hospital) in the national capital as nodal centres for isolation, management and treatment of any patient suffering from monkeypox. Sources said that all the state governments have been asked to identify such marked hospitals in their areas. At the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Principal Secretary PK Mishra chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday. In this, the country’s preparations regarding monkeypox were reviewed amid increased surveillance for quick identification.

No case in the country yet

In the meeting of PM Modi’s Principal Secretary, it was told that no case of monkeypox has been reported in the country so far. Dr. Mishra directed that surveillance should be increased and effective measures should be taken for early detection of cases. He said that a network of testing laboratories should be prepared. Currently 32 laboratories are ready for testing. As per the current assessment, the risk of a major outbreak is low. The Health Secretary informed that a meeting of experts was convened by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on August 12 to assess the risk to India. The Communicable Disease (CD) alert on monkeypox issued earlier by the NCDC is being updated. Health teams have been deployed at international airports, ports of entry.

How does monkeypox spread?

It is worth noting that earlier swine flu and COVID 19 were declared pandemics by the WHO. Both these diseases spread through the air. At the same time, some people do not even show their symptoms. On the other hand, monkeypox infection occurs through prolonged and close contact with an infected patient. It occurs mainly through the sexual route, direct contact with the patient’s body, wound fluids or contaminated clothing of an infected person.

How to avoid it

Officials said in the meeting that monkeypox infection is usually self-limited within 2-4 weeks. Patients with monkeypox usually recover with supportive medical care and management. The best way to avoid monkeypox is to avoid coming in contact with an infected person. Apart from this, do not use the clothes, utensils, bedsheets, towels etc. of such a person. Stay clean and keep washing hands regularly.

How different from Covid 19

The infection of Covid 19 or Corona virus spread very fast. With the identification of the virus in China, the number of cases reached thousands in no time. In just one week, ten times the cases had come to the fore. In March 2020, WHO declared it a pandemic. Within three months of the first case, there were 126,000 infections and 4,600 deaths. In comparison, the pace of monkeypox is very slow. According to the WHO, since 2022, 100,000 cases of infection have been reported worldwide. At the same time, about 200 people have died.

How soon can it be controlled

It is not yet completely clear. Monkeypox, which spread in 70 countries in 2022, had slowed down in a few months. Then some rich countries had stopped it by running medicines and vaccination programs. As of now, Africa has the highest number of monkeypox cases. Of these, 96 percent are in Congo, where deaths have also occurred. In this economically poor country, the health system is already ruined due to starvation, cholera and measles. Four million vaccines have been demanded in Congo, but not even one has been received yet.