Kerala has been put on high alert after the second case of monkeypox was detected in the state’s Kannur district on Monday. State health minister Veena George indicated that the condition of the patient admitted to the government medical college hospital in Pariyaran is stable.
She said the patient, a young man who had arrived from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on July 14, was admitted to an isolation ward of the medical college hospital for the last three days and his contacts were indentified and quarantined.
“His symptoms were similar to monkeypox and our tests also confirmed it. Still we sent his samples to the National Virology Institute in Pune to cross check. He told officials that some people where he stayed in the UAE were afflicted with the disease,” said the minister, adding special medical teams will be deployed in all four airports and help desks will also be set up.
The country’s first case of monkeypox was detected in the southern district of Kollam on July 14, another expatriate who had returned from the UAE. He is undergoing treatment at the Thiruvananthapuram medical college and hospital. The Union health ministry had rushed an expert medical team to the state on July 16 and its members visited the house of the infected, medical college and other places. Later, doctors found that he was infected with the West African strain of the virus.
According to experts, the monkeypox virus mutates at a higher rate but it is treatable and the treatment varies with symptoms. They said the infection starts with fever, headache and flu. As the infection turns acute, red lesions appear on the body and triggers itching like chicken pox. They said the incubation period of the virus ranges from five to 21 days. Transmission will happen only through close contact like touching, sharing clothes, towels or sex with the infected person as secretion from lesions carry a high virus load.
{{/usCountry}}According to experts, the monkeypox virus mutates at a higher rate but it is treatable and the treatment varies with symptoms. They said the infection starts with fever, headache and flu. As the infection turns acute, red lesions appear on the body and triggers itching like chicken pox. They said the incubation period of the virus ranges from five to 21 days. Transmission will happen only through close contact like touching, sharing clothes, towels or sex with the infected person as secretion from lesions carry a high virus load.
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