A young male patient, who recently returned to India from a country with active Mpox transmission, has been identified as a suspected Mpox case, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday (September 8, 2024).
The Ministry did not release details about the case or the place of occurrence, but maintained that the patient has been isolated in a designated hospital, where his condition is reported to be stable. Samples have been collected from the patient to confirm whether he has contracted Mpox, previously known as monkeypox. Contact tracing is also being done “to identify potential sources and assess the impact within the country”, the Ministry said.
“The development of this case is consistent with the earlier risk assessment conducted by the [National Centre for Disease Control] NCDC and there is no cause of any undue concern,” the Ministry said.
High death rate
The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Mpox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on August 14, due to the emergence of a new strain of the virus, known as Clade I. Of 15,600 cases reported this year, there have been a staggering 537 documented deaths, making the new strain a matter of concern, WHO said.
WHO added that the virus has also spread to several African countries which have previously not reported the disease. Clade I is responsible for the current rise of cases in central and eastern Africa. This variant has led to more cases with severe illnesses than Clade II, with up to 10% of people dying from it. Recent outbreaks, however, have seen much lower death rates of about 1% to 3.3%.
Mpox symptoms
Mpox is suspected when a patient develops fever, headache, muscle pain, back pain, weakness, and/or fatigue along with a developing skin rash that starts in the tongue and mouth before spreading to other parts of the body, especially among people who have travelled to countries with endemic Mpox, or those who have come in contact with a suspected or confirmed case of Mpox. It is also accompanied with swollen lymph nodes. High risk groups have been identified as those who are immunocompromised, children, elderly, pregnant women, and people with multiple sexual partners.
In the Ministry statement, Prashant Joshi, executive director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Nagpur, explained that the characteristic rash associated with Mpox can also be confused with other diseases that are more commonly encountered in clinical practice like chicken pox, syphilis, Varicella zoster, measles, scabies, and hand, foot and mouth disease. He advised that patients seek medical help if the mentioned symptoms are seen, along with a travel history to endemic areas or contact with a suspected or confirmed case of Mpox.
The Indian Council of Medical Research and the Department of Health Research have identified AIIMS, Nagpur as the regional testing centre for Mpox. It is among 35 laboratories across the country designated for testing suspected cases of Mpox.
Published - September 08, 2024 04:49 pm IST
