Uttar Pradesh: Sample Of 5-Year-Old Collected For Monkeypox Testing As 'Precautionary Measure'

The Chief Medical Officer said that collecting samples of the 5-year-old girl was a "precautionary measure" as she has no other health issues.

New Delhi: Samples taken from a 5-year-old girl in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh were taken to test for Monkeypox, according to an ANI report. The minor’s samples by the health department in Ghaziabad were taken after she complained of itches and rashes on her body. The report quoted the news agency’s government health source as saying that it is “unnecessary panic mongering” as no cases were reported in India. 

"The sample of a suspected monkeypox case in Ghaziabad has been sent for testing, but it's unnecessary panic mongering. No monkeypox case has been reported in India so far," the government sources told ANI.

The Chief Medical Officer of Ghaziabad said the test was just a "precautionary measure" since that girl does not have any other health issues nor did she have any close contact with someone who travelled abroad in the past month. 

"Samples of a five-year-old girl have been collected for testing for monkeypox, as a precautionary measure, as she had complaints of itching and rashes on her body. She has no other health issues and neither she nor any of her close contacts travelled abroad in the past month," CMO Ghaziabad was quoted as saying by ANI.

Guidelines on Management of Monkeypox Disease

The Union Ministry of Health prepared a "Guidelines on Management of Monkeypox Disease" as cases rise in non-endemic countries. According to the guidelines, a confirmed case is laboratory confirmed for Monkeypox virus by detection of unique sequences of viral DNA either by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or sequencing. The guidelines include the epidemiology of the disease, contact and case and definitions and guidance on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) including the use of personal protective equipment.

"Contacts should be monitored at least daily for the onset of signs or symptoms for a period of 21 days (as per case definition) from the last contact with a patient or their contaminated materials during the infectious period," the guidelines read.

Raising awareness of risk factors and further explained in detail about raising awareness and educating people about the measures for monkeypox virus-like avoiding contact with any material of the sick person, isolation of the infected patient from others, practising good hand hygiene and using appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when caring for patients.

While cases of Monkeypox were mostly limited to African countries, cases started to be reported in non-endemic countries e.g. USA, United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Canada, Austria, Israel, Switzerland etc.