Fear of incidence
Two suspected monkeypox patients admitted to a hospital in Islamabad
JAVED KHAN
PESHAWAR
After two suspected monkeypox cases were reported from Islamabad, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has geared up and decided to designate isolation wards and rooms for suspected and confirmed patient’s treatment in public sector hospitals.
An advisory issued by the Director General Health Services KP stated; “In the light of the emergent threat of Monkeypox in Pakistan, it is imperative that all the Hospitals take proactive steps for the management of suspected or confirmed cases”.
The government-run hospitals of the province have been directed to establish designated separate wards and rooms with appropriate infection control measures including negative pressure, hand hygiene facilities, and personal protective equipment to provide safe and effective care for patients.
It added that it was imperative to be vigilant for detection of any suspected cases and ensure preparedness to launch response activities for curtailing the transmission of monkeypox disease.
Health facilities have been advised to nominate the focal person for sharing accurate and timely information regarding the spread of the disease and patients’ admissions details with concerned departments.
According to the health authorities, Monkeypox is a rare viral zoonotic disease that is caused by infection with monkeypox virus. With fever, the patient develops a rash within 1 to 3 day which starts spreading to other parts of the body.
As per the advisory, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion and lymphadenopathy were the major symptoms of the virus.
“The illness typically lasts for 2-4 weeks,” it added. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of May, 257 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported from 23 countries of the world. No deaths have been reported from the virus infection during the same period of time.
The world health promoter in its updated description on monkeypox outbreak stated that the current situation may have been caused by ‘undetected transmission’ in several non-endemic countries.
“Early epidemiology of initial cases notified to WHO by countries shows that cases have been mainly reported amongst men who have sex with men (MSM),” WHO stated.
In Islamabad, the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Tuesday reported two suspected cases of infectious viral disease, known as monkeypox.
As per reports, the victims had returned from Saudi Arabia in an international flight. The suspected patients were admitted and quarantined at a government-run hospital in Islamabad.
Subsequently, the NIH quickly issued special guidelines to provincial health departments and the federal government also alerted all airports to ensure surveillance, contact tracing and rapid identification of suspected cases.
In view of the monkeypox threat and fear of incidence, the KP health department has also decided to establish separate isolation wards for male and female in hospitals to control the infection and adequately manage suspected and confirmed cases in the province.
