Isolate those infected, practice good hygiene: Govt issues guidelines to prevent monkeypox outbreak

As a proactive measure, the Union government issued guidelines on monkeypox management on Tuesday.

In view of increasing monkeypox cases in countries where it is not endemic, the central government has issued guidelines on management of the disease as a proactive step to ensure preparedness. As of May 31, there are no reported cases of monkeypox in India.

The guidelines include epidemiology of the disease, contact and case definitions, clinical features and its complication, diagnosis, case management, risk communication and guidance on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC).

The guidelines stress on surveillance and rapid identification of new cases as the key public health measures for outbreak containment. As per the guidelines, contacts should be monitored at least daily for the onset of signs/symptoms for a period of 21 days (as per case definition) from the last contact with a patient or their contaminated materials during the infectious period.

The guidelines further highlight the importance of raising awareness and educating people about preventive measures like avoiding contact with any material of the sick person, isolation of infected patient from others, practicing good hand hygiene and using appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when caring for patients.

Monkeypox has been reported as endemic in several central and western African countries such as: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone. However, cases have been reported in certain non-endemic countries like USA, United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Canada, Austria, Israel, Switzerland etc.

Here are the important guidelines from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s notice.

The key measures that can be taken to prevent infection with monkeypox virus: