Suspected monkeypox case creates a flutter

Vijayawada: A suspected monkeypox case in Vijayawada Government General Hospital has created a flutter among the hospital staff and other people. Luckily, the tests proved it was a negative.

A two-year-old baby who came from Dubai to Vijayawada recently got rashes. The parents immediately took the baby girl to the hospital. The samples were collected and sent to a lab in Puna. The test results for monkeypox were negative and the family members and hospital doctors heaved a sigh of relief.

Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) department Commissioner J Nivas on Sunday said that the lab reports of the child in the suspected monkeypox case were negative. He said that the samples of the child were sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune by a flight and the family members of the child were kept in isolation.

The Commissioner said there was no monkeypix case in AP and there was no need for people to get panicky. Doctors say that monkeypox is a viral disease that belongs to the smallpox family and it is transmitted from animals to humans. Generally, this virus spreads widely in Central and West Africa. Research shows that this disease is spread from rats, mice and squirrels. It can be spread to others through droplets or close physical contact with an infected person.

WHO has stated that the main symptoms are fever, headache, swelling, back pain, muscle pain and fatigue. Similar to Smallpox, the rash and blisters on the face, arms, and legs develop. These symptoms will disappear in 14-21 days. Most people who contract the disease recover within a week.

The World Health Organization says that only one in 10 people are at risk of it becoming fatal. Monkeypox, which has been spreading rapidly for some time now, has already spread to 59 countries. Out of 6,000 people diagnosed, three died.

The World Health Organization revealed that Monkeypox cases are mostly recorded in Europe and Africa.