Union health ministry issues mpox guidelines to states, emphasises on screening and testing suspected cases

The health secretary has urged the states to take four key steps to orient the stakeholders. Firstly, orienting the state and district-level surveillance teams on the definitions of suspected, probable, and confirmed cases of mpox along with contact tracing and surveillance activities. Secondly, states have been asked to train healthcare workers from clinics treating skin, and sexually transmitted infections, as well as the ones under the government’s HIV control program about the common signs and symptoms, clinical management, and treatment, while following all isolation protocols.

Thirdly, the letter urges states to carry out screening and testing of suspected cases in the community. With the infection being most commonly transmitted sexually, the screening can be carried out within hospitals or identified sites under the HIV control program to reach the men who have sex with men and sex workers, among others. Fourthly, intensive and clear communication on the risk directed at healthcare workers, identified areas within hospitals, and the community.

“While all States are requested to undertake appropriate activities to make communities aware about the disease, its mode of spread, need for timely reporting and preventive measures, it is crucial that any undue panic amongst the masses is prevented,” the letter states.

Although the first suspected case in India was detected after the disease was accorded the tag of Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) — the highest level of alert by the World Health Organisation — the risk of sustained transmission within the country remains low. In a meeting of experts last month after the WHO raised alarm, it was thought that there was a possibility of cases being imported due to travel from affected countries but the risk of a local outbreak with sustained transmission remained low.

The latest communication to the states also said that the infection was most commonly affecting young men between the ages of 18 and 44 years. It was being transmitted most commonly through sexual contact followed by person-to-person non-sexual contact. The most common symptom reported were rashes across the body or on the genital region, followed by fever. Around half the cases globally were found to be in persons with HIV as per the World Health Organisation, the letter says.

Since the disease was first detected in India — when the WHO had previously termed mpox to be a PHEIC in 2022 — there have been 30 cases, with the last being reported in March this year. The concern with the current outbreak is that a deadlier clade of mpox, Clade Ib, is spreading in a non-conventional way through sexual contact.

Mpox, previously referred to as monkeypox, is a self-limiting viral infection caused by mpox virus (MPXV). The most common symptoms of mpox include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes, along with pox-like rashes that last for two to three weeks. It is a self-limiting disease but can lead to death, especially among children and those with weak immune systems.

Govt: 1 Mpox positive, not type that’s of current concern

New Delhi: A young male, with a history of travel to a country experiencing mpox transmission, has tested positive for the infection. The patient is stable and without systemic illness (disease affecting several systems), according to Union Health Ministry. “Laboratory testing has confirmed the presence of mpox virus of West African clade 2 in the patient. This is an isolated case, similar to the earlier 30 cases reported in India from July 2022 onwards; it is not a part of the current public health emergency,” the ministry said in a statement. As per the lab report, the patient is infected with clade 2 of mpox and not clade 1b, a deadlier strain, which has led to heightened concern at present. Spread of clade 1b infection has been reported in Congo and neighbouring countries. —ENS