Maharashtra govt instructs district administration to make all efforts to ensure effective preparedness against Monkeypox

Maharashtra government has instructed all the districts to make all efforts to ensure effective preparedness and take required action against the disease Monkeypox as per the guidelines issued by the Minister of Health and Family Welfare. Following this, the civic body reserved 28-bedded wards at the Kasturba hospital which is the only infectious disease hospital in Maharashtra.

Officials said they have issued guidelines on the lines of the central government such as Screening and testing of all suspect cases at points of entry, and in the community (either through hospital-based surveillance and targeted surveillance under measles surveillance or intervention sites identified by NACO for MSM, the FSW population).

Monkeypox, a viral zoonotic infection is caused by the Monkeypox virus that belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus of the Poxviridae family. It is transmitted to humans through an infected person, animal, or anything contaminated with the virus.

Senior health officials said that they have directed all the medical officers to screen passengers coming from endemic and non-endemic countries that had reported outbreaks. “Their testing samples will be sent to the NIV (National Institute of Virology) Pune laboratory. All health facilities in Mumbai are being informed to notify and refer any suspected case to Kasturba Hospital,” the Maharashtra Health Department said in an advisory.

A senior health official from the civic Heath department said, "All the wards have been instructed to follow the basic protocol for any outbreak. Human-to-human transmission occurs primarily through large respiratory droplets. So it is essential to keep suspected patients with monkeypox in a confined ward to stop the possible spread to others."

“We had reserved a 28-bedded ward since the outbreak of Monkeypox in the country. Moreover, intensive risk communication directed at healthcare workers identified sites in health facilities (such as skin, paediatric OPDs, immunization clinics, intervention sites identified by NACO etc.), as well as the general public about simple preventive strategies and the need for prompt reporting of cases, needs to be undertaken,” read the advisory.

Moreover, it has also been noted that hospitals must be identified and adequate human resource and logistic support should be ensured at identified hospitals equipped to manage suspected confirmed cases of Monkeypox.

Monkeypox is contagious and can be transmitted to humans in one of the following ways:

• Direct contact with an infected person, animal, or material contaminated with the virus

• Close contact with the infectious rash, lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets/secretions

• Pregnant women already infected with the virus can spread the virus to their fetus

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