In a bid to contain the Mpox outbreak, the government has issued a circular that urges every suspected case to be screened, tested, and subjected to contact tracing. They have been directed to select hospitals that can put up infrastructure for the isolation of both likely and confirmed cases. Furthermore, there has been activation and getting to work on senior officials about assessing the measures towards preparedness in public health.
Research on the said directive revealed that the symptoms of Mpox are a rash, which could be symmetrical or genital, and fever. The guidance uses the World Health Organization, which has defined the Mpox outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Nevertheless, according to WHO, the risk of transmission across other regions of the world is moderate.
In Mpox, the majority of the patients are young men in the age range of 18 to 44 years, through sexual contact because it is the leading mode of transmission globally, then through nonsexual contact such as physical contact among persons.
Mpox was first isolated from Denmark in monkeys meant for research in 1958, and the first human disease was noted in a nine-month-old baby in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970.
Still, there has been no firsthand report of the virus in India. However, there is an isolated man who had some contact with a country with the disease. His samples are expected to yield results. Now, he is comparatively stable. ”
In 123 countries across the globe, Mpox has been reported from January 2022 to August 2024, with 150,000 suspected cases, over 109,000 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 220 deaths, including five in Pakistan, as mentioned in Geo News.
According to WHO, there is a vaccine to prevent Mpox, and it can also be administered to people who have had direct contact with the infected person or place.
