Raipur. State Health Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal has instructed the health officials of all the districts to seriously follow the guidelines given in the advisory issued for the prevention and control of a disease called Monkey Pox (M-Pox).
It is worth noting that the Director General of Health Services, Government of India, Department of Health and Family Welfare has issued an advisory on 20 August 2024 for the prevention and control of a disease called Monkey Pox (M-Pox). Monkey Pox (M-Pox) has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization on 14 August 2024. Keeping in view the spread of infection in different countries, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has issued detailed guidelines for surveillance, investigation and treatment, according to which guidelines have been issued for surveillance, rapid identification, investigation and treatment of monkeypox cases in the state of Chhattisgarh.
What is monkeypox
Monkeypox is a genetic disease that occurs mainly in the regions of Central and West Africa, but in the current scenario, cases are being received in some other countries and cases have been received in the state of Kerala, India in March 2024.
A person infected with monkeypox usually has fever, rashes and swollen lymph nodes. Monkeypox is a self-limited infection, the symptoms of which usually disappear in 2-4 weeks. Severe cases of monkeypox infection are usually found in children. The mortality rate in complications and severe cases is 1 to 10 percent. The incubation period for monkeypox infection and symptom onset is usually 6-13 days but may vary from 5 to 25 days. Monkeypox infection can spread to people coming in contact with the patient from 1-2 days before the skin rash appears to the time when all rashes have scabbed over/shed.
Monkeypox virus infection can spread from animal to human and from human to human. Human to human transmission occurs mainly through the large respiratory system due to prolonged close contact with an infected person. The virus can be transmitted through direct contact of body fluids or wounds or through indirect contact such as use of contaminated clothing, linen, etc. Transmission from animals to humans can occur through direct contact in the village.
Guidelines have been issued for surveillance of potential monkeypox cases. According to which, surveillance of possible cases of monkeypox should be done for prompt identification, investigation and treatment, isolating the case to stop the spread of infection, providing treatment to the patient, identifying the contact persons of the patient, alerting the health worker to prevent infection and taking effective steps to control and prevent the spread of infection.
It will be necessary to use the standard definitions given in this guideline for monkeypox surveillance, and to compulsorily inform the District Surveillance Unit/State Surveillance Unit about each possible case. Even a single confirmed case should be considered and the District Level Rapid Response Team will immediately conduct a detailed outbreak investigation and send the report to the State Office. For investigation of possible cases of monkeypox, samples will be collected as per the prescribed procedure and sent to the designated laboratory for investigation. Contact tracing teams will be formed under the District Surveillance Officer in all districts to identify all the contact persons of each positive patient of monkeypox. The contact person will be monitored daily for fever or skin rashes for 21 days after coming in contact with the monkey-pox patient. Contact persons should be prevented from donating blood, organ, tissue, semen etc. for 21 days and such medical personnel who have come in contact with the monkey-pox patient or the items used by him without immune equipment should be monitored for 21 days and symptom-free medical personnel should not be prevented from medical work, such instructions have been given.
Health Minister Shri Shyam Bihari Jaiswal, taking cognizance of the disease, has instructed the officials of the Health Department to organize camps in all the development blocks of the district and especially in the Gram Panchayats to make the citizens aware about the monkey-pox disease, its infection and measures for prevention. Along with this, he has asked to ensure strict compliance of all the necessary guidelines given in the advisory issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department.
