Mpox advisory: Districts hospitals designated to tackle eventualities in Nagaland

DIMAPUR — Following the central government’s directive to states and union territories to screen and test all suspect Mpox cases as well as establish isolation facilities in hospitals for both suspected and confirmed patients, the state health department has earmarked all district hospitals in case of any eventuality.

The chief medical officer of Dimapur, Limatula Aier told Eastern Mirror on Tuesday that the district hospitals have received directives to ensure ‘all necessary preparedness’.

As per the World Health Organization, Mpox is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus. There are two distinct clades of the virus: clade I (with subclades Ia and Ib) and clade II (with subclades IIa and IIb). In 2022–2023 a global outbreak of mpox was caused by the clade IIb strain.

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Common symptoms of Mpox are skin rash or mucosal lesions, which can last for 2-4 weeks, accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.

It can be transmitted through close contact with someone who has Mpox, with contaminated materials, or with infected animals. During pregnancy, the virus may be passed to the foetus or to the newborn during or after birth.

The incubation period for Mpox, which is the time from infection to the onset of symptoms, typically ranges from 16 to 13 days but can extend from 5 to 21 days.

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Key preventive measures include: avoiding contact with materials (e.g., bedding, clothing) that have been in contact with infected individuals; isolating infected patients from others; practicing good hand hygiene, such as washing hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand sanitizers, especially after contact with infected animals or humans; using appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when caring for patients; and properly containing and disposing of contaminated waste (e.g., dressings) under Biomedical Waste Management guidelines for infectious waste.