So far, no cases of Monkeypox infection have been reported in India, but the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has urged people to watch out for possible symptoms, especially in children who are more at risk of getting infected with the virus.
ICMR scientist Dr Aparna Mukherjee told IANS on Friday that kids are more susceptible to the monkeypox infection. She suggested that younger people who did not get the smallpox vaccine may be more susceptible. The expert mentioned that smallpox vaccine gives cross-immunity to fight against the monkeypox infection, but administration of the vaccine was stopped after the 1980s.
However, she recommended that elderly people should also be vaccinated with the smallpox vaccine.
There is no need to panic, said Dr Mukherjee adding that symptoms of this disease usually spread by very close contact. So, people should avoid close contact with those who test positive for monkeypox, she noted.
Further, the ICMR scientist listed some unusual symptoms which people should keep a close watch on, especially those who have recently visited a monkeypox-infected country. Below are 5 unusual Monkeypox symptoms listed by the expert:
Although the ICMR scientist acknowledged the increasing monkeypox infections in the non-endemic countries, she clarified that no cases have been reported in India so far.
Experts at the World Health Organisation are trying to understand the origin of this sudden outbreak of monkeypox in non-endemic countries.
More than 20 cases of monkeypox infections have been reported in many countries in a few days, according to Sylvie Briand, WHO director for Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness.
But so many things remain unknown about this disease.
Briand said that they still don`t know if this unusual situation is due to a virus change, but it doesn`t seem so as "first sequencing of the virus shows that the strain is not different from the strain we can find in endemic countries." She suggested that it's probably more due to a change in human behaviour.
But she believes that if countries put in place the right measures to contain Monkeypox cases now, the outbreak can be stopped easily.
(With agency inputs)
