Government health sources on Saturday shunned claims of the presence of monkeypox in India and called the act of sending the samples of a five-year-old girl from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad for testing nothing but “unnecessary panic mongering”.
“The sample of a suspected monkeypox case in Ghaziabad has been sent for testing, but it’s unnecessary panic mongering. No monkeypox case has been reported in India so far,” the government sources told ANI.
As per reports, the health department had sent the samples of the girl for monkeypox after she complained of itching and rashes on her body. The health department said that a clinic informed them about a young child with specific symptoms related to the disease and samples were taken as part of precautionary measures.
Initially the minor was taken to an ENT clinic for an examination pertaining to a hearing ailment on May 23. The doctor who examined the child soon informed higher authorities that the minor had excessive rashes and itching on the skin. on being informed, a rapid response team was deployed.
Calling it a “precautionary measure”, the Chief Medical Officer of Ghaziabad informed that the girl was found to have no fever or headache. Nor did she have close contact with anyone who has traveled abroad in the past month.
This comes after the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday issued Guidelines on Management of Monkeypox Disease to ensure advance preparedness across the country amid soaring monkeypox cases in non-endemic countries.
According to the guidelines, a confirmed case is laboratory confirmed for Monkeypox virus by detection of unique sequences of viral DNA either by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or sequencing. It also asked contacts of the supposedly infected person to be monitored at least daily for the onset of signs or symptoms for a period of 21 days from the last contact with a patient or their contaminated materials during the infectious period.
At present, the family of the child has been asked to isolate the child till the samples give conclusive results. Health officials are tracking the symptoms to suggest a further course of action.
Global Cases Rise Above 550
The health ministry also said that the monkeypox has been reported as an endemic in several other central and western African countries such as Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Wednesday that monkeypox appears to be spreading from person to person in England. “The current outbreak is the first time that the virus has been passed from person to person in England where travel links to an endemic country have not been identified,” the health agency was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.
The WHO also said that more than 550 cases of monkeypox across the globe were reported from outside of central and western Africa where the disease is endemic.
No Cause for Concern
The WHO said on Monday it was not concerned for now that the spread of monkeypox beyond the African countries where it is typically found could spark a global pandemic. The UN health agency has voiced concern at this “unusual situation”, but reiterated Monday that there was no reason to panic over the virus, which spreads through close contact and usually does not cause severe disease.
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