Monkeypox Infection: 5-year-old girl complains of itching, and rashes in UP's Ghaziabad, samples sent for monkeypox investigation

After complaining of itching and rashes on the body of a five-year-old girl in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, a case of monkeypox infection is being investigated. The Chief Medical Officer of Ghaziabad said the test is just a "precautionary measure" as the girl does not have any other health problems, nor has she had close contact with anyone who has traveled abroad in the past month.

CMO Ghaziabad mentioned, "As a precautionary measure, the sample of a five-year-old girl has been collected for testing for monkeypox, as she was complaining of itching and rashes on her body. She does not have any other health problems nor Neither he nor any of his close contacts have traveled abroad in the last month.

In the wake of rising reports of monkeypox (MPX) cases, the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday issued 'Guidelines on Management of Monkeypox Disease' to ensure advance preparedness across the country. According to those guidelines, a confirmed case of the monkeypox virus can be confirmed by the detection of unique sequences of viral DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and/or sequencing.

"All clinical samples should be sent to the apex laboratory of ICMR-NIV (Pune) through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) network of the respective district/state," the guidelines said.

"The guideline emphasizes surveillance and rapid detection of new cases as key public health measures for infection prevention. It also emphasizes the need to reduce the risk of human-to-human transmission." The guidelines mention infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, interpretation of IPC, home isolation, patient isolation, strategies for ambulance transfer, duration of isolation procedures, etc.