India has stepped up the screening of all international passengers arriving at airports and ports to minimise the threat of Monkeypox importation. Here’s all you need to know about its person-to-person transmission, animal to human transmission, precautions and preventive measures
Kerala in India has been put on high alert following the detection of a second monkeypox case and the Union Health ministry ordered strict screening of all international passengers arriving at airports and ports to minimise the threat of its importation. The symptoms of monkeypox are fever, headaches, muscle aches, backache, chills, tiredness and even swollen lymph nodes while one can also notice a rash on the face and other areas of the body.
Monkeypox virus was discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease were seen in lab monkeys kept for the study and also the name was derived from them. Monkeypox virus belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae and is not life-threatening but there can be human-to-human transmission or animal to human transmission.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Rituja Ugalmugle, Senior Doctor, MBBS, MD- Internal Medicine at Connect and Heal, revealed, “Typically symptoms may start within 5-13 days but can range from 3-21 days from exposure. First 2-5 days are usually characterized by fever, intense headache, back ache, muscle pains, enlarged lymph nodes and severe fatigue. Skin rash usually appears within 1 to 4 days and continues for 2-3 weeks. Typically concentrated on face, palms and soles, but may also affect oral mucosa, eyes and genitalia. Lesions are usually 2-5mm in size to begin with, then become raised and fluid or pus filled and eventually crust over. These crusts then dry up and fall off in 1-2 weeks.”
