Monkeypox Case In Delhi Takes India's Tally To 4, Centre Holds High-Level Review Meeting

The Delhi government had recently made the LNJP Hospital the nodal centre for management of monkeypox, soon after the first case of the infection was reported in the country.

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New Delhi: The condition of the 34-year-old man from Delhi, who contracted monkeypox, is "stable" though he had painful lesions, news agency PTI quoted official sources as saying. The patient, with no travel history and a resident of west Delhi, was isolated at government-run Lok Nayak Jayaprakash (LNJP) Hospital after he showed signs of the disease three days back. The case in Delhi has taken the tally in India to four, prompting the Centre to hold a high-level review meeting on Sunday.     

"The patient is in a stable condition. Efforts are on by surveillance teams to trace other people he may have come in contact with. The patient had painful lesions, which is one of the symptoms of monkeypox. We also analysed his condition and ruled out several other ailments," PTI quoted an official source as saying.

The official further said that the person has no history of foreign travel, although he travelled within the country.

READ | First Monkeypox Case In Delhi: Man With No History Of Foreign Travel Tests Positive For Virus

"Covid is highly transmissible, and a person even standing near an infected person can contract it via sneezing and droplets. Monkeypox is also a communicable disease, but if proper distance is maintained and people wear mask, it won't spread that fast. So, I would urge people to follow all safety protocols as they were doing to keep COVID-19 at bay," the official added.

It is to be noted that the Delhi man is the fourth reported Monkeypox case in the country. Three cases had earlier been reported from Kerala.

"The person is recovering at the designated isolation centre at the LNJP hospital. The close contacts of the case have been identified and are under quarantine following the health ministry guidelines," the source said.

"We checked for several other ailments before zeroing in on monkeypox. So, we checked for lymphadenopathy as it happens in chickenpox, as also for herpes, among other diseases," the source said.

According to sources, Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Atul Goel on Sunday reviewed the monkeypox situation in the country and directed the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to carry out a detailed epidemiological investigation of the cases.

It was highlighted that health facilities should keep a lookout for people who complain of an unexplained rash and have travelled in the last 21 days to a country that has recently had confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government had recently made the LNJP Hospital the nodal centre for management of monkeypox, soon after the first case of the infection was reported in the country.