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Alarming! Kerala Reports India's First Monkeypox Case; Centre Rushes High-Level Team
Writer: Simran Jeet
She is a a dedicated and an optimistic person who believes in learning from experience.
Kerala, 15 July 2022 9:01 AM GMT
Editor : Shiva Chaudhary |
A post-graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication with relevant skills, specialising in content editing & writing. I believe in the precise dissemination of information based on facts to the public.
Creatives : Shiva Chaudhary
A post-graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication with relevant skills, specialising in content editing & writing. I believe in the precise dissemination of information based on facts to the public.
The first known lab-confirmed case of monkeypox is reported from a man who tested positive after arriving in Thiruvananthapuram from the UAE. He is believed to have come in contact with another confirmed case in Emirates.
India, on Thursday, July 14, reported its first monkeypox case after the sample of a man hailing from Kerala, who returned from the UAE four days ago, tested positive.
State Health Minister Veena George informed the media that the National Institute of Virology, Pune, had confirmed the disease. The Center has formed a high-level multidisciplinary team to collaborate with state authorities in implementing public health measures.
According to official sources, the team would depart for the southern state latest by Friday, July 15, reported NDTV.
Man Under Close Monitoring
George informed the infected man had been isolated and kept under close observation. The person, a Kollam native, has been isolated for treatment at the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital (MCH).
His condition was stable, though he seemed very anxious. He had first consulted a private hospital at Kollam after he developed fever and other symptoms.
The man volunteered the information that his close contact in the UAE had been confirmed as having contracted monkeypox. The person had travelled on a flight wearing a face mask and clothes that entirely covered him, reported The Hindu.
People Who Came In Contact Also Isolated
George said his close contacts, like family members, drivers, healthcare personnel who attended to him at the first hospital and 11 persons who had occupied the seats near him on his flight from the UAE, have all been informed about the new development. They will also have to go into isolation and monitoring for the next 21 days.
The Kerala Health department has taken all precautions to ensure that the infection does not spread outside the circle of close contact. All districts have been asked to enhance disease surveillance and monitoring, reported The Times of India.
What Is Monkeypox?
Monkeypox is a zoonotic viral disease with symptoms similar to smallpox, although with less clinical severity. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting two-four weeks.
The virus is transmitted through close contact with another infected person or animal and spreads from lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding. Rashes appear on the face, inside palms and the body 1-4 days after fever.
The symptoms can include fever, headache, muscle ache and backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, and rashes that look like pimples or blisters on the face, inside the mouth and other parts of the body.
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