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The Health Ministry has advised strict isolation and infection control measures after India reported first clade 1b Mpox. Image: AP via livemint.com
Union Health Ministry issued an advisory on Thursday after India became the third non-African country to report clade 1b Mpox case on September 23.
The advisory — issued for all states and union territories — warning against the Mpox infection said, “Clinical presentation of Mpox clade I in adults remains similar to clade II.”
It is important to note that the rate of complications may be higher in clade I than with clade II infections.
Meanwhile, media reports from Kerala said one more case of Mpox has been reported from Kochi. However, this has not been officially confirmed.
Stresses isolation, infection prevention
The Department of Health and Family Welfare's advisory dated September 26 instructed for the isolation of all suspected Mpox cases and the implementation of strict infection prevention and control measures.
The Health and Family Welfare Department has provided clinical management protocols, infection prevention and control practices, and a risk communication strategy, in addition to a list of laboratories operationalised for testing.
WHO's stand
The World Health Organisation declared the Mpox disease outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on August 14 this year.
This is the second time the WHO has declared Mpox disease associated with PHEIC under the International Health Regulations, 2005.
Review mechanism
Instructing the states to assess public health preparedness at health facilities, the ministry directed them to conduct reviews at both the state and district levels.
Furthermore, the Health Ministry instructed authorities to ensure that hospitals set up isolation facilities to manage both suspected and confirmed cases.
Requisite logistics including trained human resources in such facilities and development of an augmentation plan are among the other necessary requirements.
The release further noted, “The 2024 PHEIC is related to MPox virus clade I which is more virulent and more transmissible than Mpox clade II.”
According to the advisory, samples from skin lesions of any patient with the suspected Mpox symptoms should be sent to the designated labs promptly.
Those patients who test positive, their sample should be sent to designated labs and to ICMR-NIV for genome sequencing to determine the clade.
(By arrangement with livemint.com)
