The Aman Sandesh Times

Thursday, Date: Mar 28, 2024 Time: 9:09 pm

E-Paper

Mohali: District Health department has issued an advisory regarding Monkeypox (MPX) disease. Civil Surgeon Dr Adarshpal Kaur and Epidemiologist Dr Harmandeep Kaur said that it is a viral zoonotic disease with symptoms similar to smallpox, although with less clinical severity. The first human case of monkeypox was reported from Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 1970. They added that the incubation period (interval from infection to onset of symptoms) of Monkeypox is usually from 6 to 13 days.
Period of communicability
1-2 days before the rash until all the scabs fall off/get subsided.

Mode of transmission:
• Human-to-human transmission is known to occur primarily through large respiratory droplets generally requiring a prolonged close contact. It can also be transmitted through direct contact with body fluids or lesion material, and indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated clothing or linens of an infected person.
•Animal-to-human transmission: may occur by bite or scratch of infected animals like small mammals including rodents (rats, squirrels) and non-human primates (monkeys, apes) or through bush meat preparation.

Common symptoms and signs:
a. Fever
b. Lymphadenopathy Typically occurs with fever onset
c. Headache, muscle aches, exhaustion
d. Chills and/or sweats
e. Sore throat and cough
f. Skin involvement (rash)- Usually begins within 1-3 days of fever onset, lasting for around 2-4 weeks. Lesions are often described as painful until the healing phase when they become itchy (in the crust stage)

Communication and Preventive Measures:
Raising awareness of risk factors and educating people about the measures they can take to reduce exposure to the virus is the main prevention strategy for monkeypox. There are number of measures that can be taken to prevent infection with monkeypox virus:
• Avoid contact with any materials, such as bedding, that has been in contact with a sick person.
• Isolate infected patients from others.
• Practice good hand hygiene after contact with infected animals or humans. For example, washing your hands with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

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