Kinkini Gupta
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Written By: Kinkini Gupta | Updated : September 24, 2024 10:04 AM IST
Mpox Virus Update: India Confirms First Case Of Clade 1B Variant Infection In Kerala
The first case of mpox virus of variant Clade 1B infection has been confirmed in India as per government reports. A young man who had reportedly arrived from Dubai last week was admitted to the hospital with a suspected mpox symptoms. Clade 1B is the variant of mpox due to which the World Health Organisation (WHO) had issued a declaration of Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in the month of August. Clade 1B has been spreading rapidly in the countries of Africa as well for which action has been taken to vaccinate people on priority basis. This is the first case of Clade 1B in India but another infection was confirmed earlier this month from Delhi pertaining to Clade II variant of mpox virus.
A young man who had reportedly returned from Dubai last week was admitted to the hospital in Malappuram district of Kerala with symptoms of Mpox virus. While he did exhibit symptoms of mpox virus, officials had not confirmed about the disease or about which variant he was infected with. His serum samples were sent to the virology laboratory at Government Medical College, Kozhikode on priority awaiting confirmation regarding the virus. As per reports, the man was experiencing fever and rashes on his hands and reached the hospital in Malappuram on Monday, September 16th.
According to reports from the WHO, the new variant of mpox Clade 1B is far more deadlier than the other strains. Cases pertaining to this variant has been reported from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other African countries. This strain reportedly also spreads through sexual contact, something that did not exist in the Clade 1 variant. The other modes of transmission are through human contact. This variant in particular has already caused at least 600 deaths and around 18,000 suspected cases this year in DRC alone.
