District Isolation Facilities for Mpox | 24 Aug 2024

Why in News?

Recently, The Haryana health department instructed all districts to be highly vigilant for Mpox. They stressed the significance of educating healthcare workers and carrying out screening of suspected measles cases.

Key Points

  • The screening is to be conducted through focused surveillance for locations identified by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) for men who have sex with men and female sex workers, as well as through hospital-based surveillance in dermatology clinics, STD clinics, medicine, and pediatrics outpatient departments.
  • The department has advised all districts to identify isolation facilities and appoint nodal officers for effective patient management.
  • All hospitals have been directed to remain alert, and if they encounter any suspected cases, they are to notify the integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP) unit.
    • The incubation period for those infected is typically 7 to 14 days, but it can also range from 5 to 21 days, and the patient is usually contagious during this period.

Mpox

  • Mpox, also known as monkeypox, is a DNA virus. It belongs to the family Poxviridae, which consists of large, double-stranded DNA viruses.
    • The virus was first identified in monkeys in 1958 but has since been found to infect humans as well.
  • Transmission: Mpox is primarily transmitted to humans from animals, particularly rodents and primates, through direct contact or through contaminated objects.
  • Symptoms: Mpox infection in humans typically presents with fever, headache, muscle aches, and a characteristic rash that progresses from macules to papules to vesicles and pustules.
  • Vaccination: While a vaccine for mpox exists, its availability and effectiveness are limited, highlighting the need for improved prevention and control measures.

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO)

  • It is a division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that provides leadership to HIV/AIDS control programme in India through 35 HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Societies.
  • NACO has played a very big role in significantly reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country and that too faster than the global rates.