Monkeypox suspect from Kamareddy admitted to Fever Hospital

Hyderabad: A middle-aged man from Kamareddy district with a recent travel history to Kuwait has developed suspected symptoms of monkeypox and has been admitted to Fever Hospital, Nallakunta on Sunday night. The alert local disease surveillance teams at Kamareddy district isolated the individual when he developed fever, headache, muscle aches, accompanied with lesions, which are […]

Hyderabad: A middle-aged man from Kamareddy district with a recent travel history to Kuwait has developed suspected symptoms of monkeypox and has been admitted to Fever Hospital, Nallakunta on Sunday night.

The alert local disease surveillance teams at Kamareddy district isolated the individual when he developed fever, headache, muscle aches, accompanied with lesions, which are the typical symptoms of monkeypox.

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A fortnight ago, the individual had reached Hyderabad from Kuwait and proceeded to his native Kamareddy district. Later, he developed typical symptoms of monkeypox and immediately sought medical help from local district health officials who quarantined him and shifted him to Fever Hospital, which is the nodal hospital for providing treatment to monkeypox positive cases.

On Monday, the health authorities at Fever Hospital will collect blood samples, lesion fluid, crusts of the lesions and urine samples from the suspected monkeypox patient and send them to Gandhi Hospital and National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for confirmation.

“We will keep the suspected case in quarantine and provide symptomatic treatment. Unlike Covid, which is air-borne in nature, monkeypox is transmitted through close contact and people should not be worried about it all. A majority of the individuals in Telangana already have received vaccine against smallpox, which is quite similar to monkeypox,” Superintendent, Fever Hospital, Dr K Shankar, said.

Monkeypox positive case will be confirmed only through RT-PCR tests, which confirms the presence of the monkeypox virus by detecting the unique sequences of viral DNA through PCR or even through genome sequencing. Apart from NIV, Pune, the city-based Gandhi Hospital is equipped with RT-PCR and trained manpower to make monkeypox diagnosis.

The management of the patient will be isolation, protection of compromised skin and mucous membranes, rehydration therapy, nutrition support, alleviation of symptoms and monitoring and treatment of complications, Dr Shankar added.