Mpox Scare: AIIMS Delhi Issues SOP To Treat Suspected Patients With Symptoms — Check Guideline Here

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi issued a standard operating procedure (SOP), detailing the steps to be taken to handle Monkeypox cases at the AIIMS emergency department.

Mpox scare: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi has issued a guideline for handling patients experiencing suspected Monkeypox (Mpox) symptoms. This comes after the World Health Organisation declared mpox as a global health emergency last week, following an outbreak in African nations. 

The premier medical institute has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP), detailing the steps to be taken to handle Monkeypox cases at the AIIMS emergency department.

Here are the SOPs issued by AIIMS on mpox case:

1. The AIIMS stated that patients with fever, rash, or a history of contact with confirmed Monkeypox cases should be flagged for immediate assessment upon arrival.

2. The medics have been asked to identify key symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen nymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, and characteristic skin lesions.

3. The medics have also been asked to place suspected patients in a designated isolation area immediately in order to minimise contact with other patients and staff.

4. AIIMS Delhi has notified AB-7 beds no 33, 34, 35, and 36 for isolating the Monkeypox patients.

5. According to the advisory, these beds will be allotted to the Monkeypox patients on the recommendation of the Emergency chief medical officer (CMO) and treated by the medicine department. The patient has to remain in temporary holding till he or she is shifted to Safdarjung Hospital, which has been earmarked for definitive care.

6. As per AIIMS guidelines, the officials of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) must be informed with contact no. 8745011784 when a suspected Monkeypox case is identified.

7. The IDSP team should be provided with the patient's details, brief history, clinical findings, and contact details.

8. The SOP further stated that Safdarjung Hospital has been designated for managing and treating Monkeypox patients.Thus, any patient suspected of having Monkeypox should be referred to Safdarjung Hospital for further evaluation and treatment.

9. The AIIMS management has also earmarked a dedicated ambulance to shift the patients to Safdarjung Hospital. The Emergency staff has to inform the ambulance coordinator on the mobile number 8929683898 to shift the suspected Monkeypox patient, the notification said.

10. The medics have been asked to handle all the patients with strict infection control measures. The staff has been asked to use personal protective equipment when dealing with suspected cases. The proper documentation of each patient's details, symptoms, and referral process have to be maintained, the AIIMS notification stated.

Besides the Democratic Republic of Congo where 96 per cent of all the cases in Africa have been reported, Sweden and Pakistan are the other countries in the world that have recorded mpox cases of late.