Government health sources dismissed claims of monkeypox presence on Saturday India and the act of sending a sample of a five-year-old girl from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh for testing anything other than “spreading unnecessary panic”.
“The sample of a suspected monkeypox case in Ghaziabad has been sent for testing, but it is unnecessarily causing panic. No monkeypox case has been reported in India so far,” government sources told ANI.
According to reports, the health department sent samples of the girl for monkeypox after she complained of itching and rashes on her body. The health department said a clinic informed them about a young child with typical symptoms related to the disease and samples were taken as a precaution.
Initially, the minor was taken to an ENT clinic on May 23 for a hearing disorder. The doctor who examined the child soon informed the higher authorities that the minor had severe skin rashes and itching. Rapid response team has been deployed on receiving information.
Describing it as a “precautionary measure”, the Chief Medical Officer of Ghaziabad said that the girl did not have fever or headache. Nor was he in close contact with anyone who had traveled abroad in the past one month.
This comes after the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday issued guidelines on the management of monkeypox disease to ensure advance preparedness across the country amid rising cases of monkeypox in non-endemic countries.
As per the guidelines, a confirmed case for monkeypox virus is confirmed by detection of unique sequences of viral DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or sequencing. It also asked for at least daily surveillance for contacts of an allegedly infected person or onset of symptoms for a period of 21 days from the last contact with a patient or their contaminated material during the infectious period.
At present, the child’s family has been asked to isolate the child till the sample results are out. Health officials are monitoring symptoms to suggest further course of action.
Global cases rise above 550
The Ministry of Health also stated that monkeypox has been reported as an endemic in several other Central and West African countries such as Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of . Congo, and Sierra Leone.
The UK’s Health Protection Agency (UKHSA) said on Wednesday that monkeypox is spreading from person to person in England. “The current outbreak is the first time that the virus has passed from person to person in England, where a travel link to an endemic country has not been identified,” news agency Reuters quoted the health agency as saying.
The WHO also said that more than 550 cases of monkeypox worldwide were reported from outside Central and West Africa, where the disease is endemic.
no reason to worry
The WHO said on Monday it was not yet concerned that the spread of monkeypox beyond African countries where it is commonly found could lead to a global pandemic. The UN health agency has expressed concern over the “unusual situation” but reiterated Monday that there is no reason to panic over the virus, which spreads through close contact and does not usually cause serious illness.
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