Monkeypox in India: From designated hospitals, vaccine status to guidelines for flyers

"Even one case of monkeypox is to be considered as an outbreak"

It's been slightly more than a week since India reported its first monkeypox case. So far, four cases have been reported in the country — three in Kerala and one in Delhi. The Centre and the state governments have stepped up their vigil against the spread of the infection while releasing guidelines for people, as well as hospitals, in the wake of the disease.

Here's a sneak peek into what the government has been doing to contain the infection.

According to a Business Standard report, an indigenous test kit is being developed to detect the monkeypox virus. The report quoted government sources as saying, "Makers of the TrueNat real-time polymerase chain reaction...are developing the test kit for monkeypox." Truenat molecular diagnostic tests were earlier approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) to detect tuberculosis.

While Delhi and Telangana have designated state-run hospitals where suspected cases can go for treatment, hospital authorities in parts of the country are on their toes to fight the disease.

In Delhi, the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital is the designated isolation centre, in Telangana, the government has made Fever hospital the nodal hospital to treat monkeypox patients and the Gandhi hospital the testing centre.

Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital (ACH) has designated an eight-bed isolation ward for suspected cases of monkeypox, reports said. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government also ordered the administration to reserve beds for Monkeypox in COVID-designated hospitals.

The Union Health Ministry had last week advised airport and port Health Officers and directors of regional offices of the health and family welfare ministry to ensure strict screening of all international travellers to minimise the risk of monkeypox cases in the country. Several state governments are mulling setting up a testing centre at airports. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Delhi and are among states which have already sounded alert over the monkeypox cases.

According to PTI, international travellers arriving in Delhi with monkeypox symptoms such as high fever and back pain will now be sent to the LNJP Hospital from the airport.

Meanwhile, Telangana Health Minister T Harish Ra said the government is mulling to keep testing facilities at airports to test those arriving from foreign countries, especially African nations. "We are consulting the Central government," he was quoted as saying.

Goa Health Department Director Dr Geeta Kakodkar was quoted by News 18 as saying that they have received guidelines for monkeypox and accordingly, all stakeholders have been briefed. “We have circulated it to IMA doctors and government medical officers. We will take samples even if it is chicken pox case and will send it to (the NIV) Pune,” she said.

Besides this, Tamil Nadu authorities have also tightened the surveillance at international airports. The health department has reportedly set up surveillance teams at all four airports in the state to screen passengers who are arriving in the state from abroad.

> Close contact with sick people including those with skin lesions or genital lesions.

> Contact with dead or live wild animals such as small mammals including rodents (rats, squirrels) and non-human primates (monkeys, apes).

> Eating or preparing meat from wild game (bushmeat) or using products derived from

wild animals from Africa (creams, lotions, powders).

> Contact with contaminated materials used by sick people (such as clothing, bedding, or materials used in healthcare settings) or that came into contact with infected animals.

Health professionals and workers in the state have been given the training to identify and deal with monkeypox cases, said Kerala Health Minister Veena George. Meanwhile, the Centre held a review meeting over monkeypox last week, in which, the need for a targeted approach toward high-risk groups was highlighted.

Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawala, in an interview with NDTV, said that it is a very early stage to start thinking about monkeypox vaccine. “We are looking and talking to some partners and very soon...We have some options...In a month or two, we’ll see if we require the vaccine,” he was quoted as saying

With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and the subsequent cessation of smallpox vaccination, monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus for public health, PTI reported. Over 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported from 75 countries and there have been five deaths so far due to the outbreak.