Kerala govt releases SOPs to deal with monkeypox cases

Thiruvananthapuram, July 20: The Kerala Government has released the Standard Operating Procedures to deal with monkeypox cases in the State.

State Health Minister Veena George said, the SOP includes details about collecting samples, isolation and treatment to be followed by all Government and private hospitals in the State.

Individuals with monkeypox symptoms should be treated as suspected cases if they have visited the countries with the viral disease outbreak in the past 21 days. Monkeypox will, however, be confirmed by a PCR test. Health Department has started monkeypox diagnostic testing at the National Institute of Virology in Alappuzha.

According to the Health department's SOP, as mentioned in the release, suspected and probable cases of Monkeypox are to be treated separately and in isolation and the District Surveillance Officer (DSO) should be informed immediately.

Samples should be collected as per the protocols laid down for the same by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) and the DSO would be responsible for sending the same to the lab, it said.

Referrals from private hospitals to government facilities should be on patient request and only critically ill patients from state-run hospitals with isolation facilities should be referred to medical colleges, the SOPs further said.

While transporting infected persons from to a hospital or from one medical institution to another, PPE kit, N95 masks, gloves and goggles should be worn by the health professionals and the patients too should wear an N95 or triple layered mask and any wounds on their bodies should be covered, it said.

After patient delivery, the ambulance and equipment therein should be disinfected and patient's items like clothing, should be disposed of according to the guidelines, the Health department release said.

Confirmed cases of Monkeypox should be managed as per the Centre's guidelines exactly and in case of any doubt regarding treatment, the state medical board should be consulted, it added.

As all international airports in the state have thermal scanners, the release said that anyone showing signs of fever would be examined for red spots by a medical team and if such signs are found, they will be transferred to the nearest hospital with isolation facilities and the DSO would be informed about the same.

Health workers have been directed to monitor those in the primary contact list for 21 days for any symptoms by calling them over the phone and recording their temperature twice a day, it said and added that the health worker or nurse in charge of monitoring should visit the house of the contacts periodically to ensure they follow the guidelines.

In case the primary contact person has fever, they should be immediately isolated and if red spots appear, their samples should be sent for Monkeypox testing, the release said.

Those in the contact list who are not showing symptoms should not donate blood, cells, tissue, organs, or semen, it added.

Meanwhile, the Central team which is camping in the State will today visit the Pariyaram Government Medical College in Kannur where the second infected person is undergoing treatment. Country's first monkeypox case was confirmed in a 35-year old Kollam native who returned from the United Arab Emirates last week.

The first case of Monkeypox, a rare but potentially serious viral illness, was reported from Kollam district of south Kerala on July 14. He is currently undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.

According to the World Health Organisation, Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals), with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.

With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and subsequent cessation of smallpox vaccination, Monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus for public health.