Three-Week Isolation, Keep Lesions Fully Covered: Centre Issues Guidelines For Monkeypox Patients | 10 Points

Health Ministry stated that one has to stay in isolation for 21 days from the last contact with a monkeypox patient or their contaminated materials. 

In view of the ongoing scare over the outbreak of Monkeypox in the country, Centre on Tuesday issued guidelines for patients and their contacts. So far, four cases of Monkeypox virus have been reported in the country with one being detected in New Delhi last week. According to reports, 14 contacts of Delhi’s first monkeypox patient have been indentified as none of them have shown any symptoms.

New agency PTI reported that one of the contacts had complained of body ache, but he is doing fine now and has no symptoms.

Another suspected patient of the viral zoonosis has been admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital in Delhi and the samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

Monkeypox Outbreak | All You Need To Know

1. While issuing the guidelines for infected patients, the Health Ministry stated that one has to stay in isolation for 21 days (3 weeks) from the last contact with a monkeypox patient or their contaminated materials. 

2. All health workers who have unprotected exposure to monkeypox patients or possibly contaminated materials need not be excluded from duty if asymptomatic but should undergo surveillance for symptoms for 21 days.

3. According to the guidelines, a monkeypox patient must wear a triple-ply mask while the skin lesions should be covered to the best extent possible to minimise the risk of contact with others.

4. The ministry also advised that the patients should remain in isolation until all lesions have healed and the scabs completely fallen off. Officials, however, also pointed out that there is no need to panic.

5. Explaining how a contact can be identified, an official told PTI that a person who comes in contact with an infected person through face-to-face exposure, direct physical contact, or comes in contact with contaminated materials such as clothing or bedding is identified as a primary contact.

6. "District surveillance teams ask contacts to self-monitor their symptoms and stay in touch with them. Preferably, the contacts should isolate themselves in separate rooms but they can also stay in the same room. They should ideally wear a mask and follow hand hygiene and social distancing norms," the official said.

7. Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis that gets transmitted to humans from animals with symptoms similar to those seen in smallpox patients, albeit clinically less severe. Fever, headache, rashes for up to three weeks, sore throat, cough and swollen lymph nodes are some other symptoms of the disease.

8. The government is also asked asymptomatic contacts not to donate blood cells, tissues, organs or semen while under surveillance.

9. Lesions, which occures during the infection, usually begin within one to three days of the onset of fever, last for around two to four weeks and are often described as painful until the healing phase when they turn itchy.

10. So far, around 16,000 cases of monkeypox have now been reported from 75 countries and there have been five deaths so far due to the outbreak. Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared monkeypox a global public health emergency of international concern.