The man from Kerala’s Malappuram was admitted to the state-run Manjeri Medical College Hospital and has been isolated. The sample has been sent for testing to Kozhikode Medical College after which it will be confirmed if he has monkeypox or not.The testing can also determine the strain of the monkeypox. Health Minister Veena George said that the youth was isolated at home itself and we are awaiting the result of the sample of the suspected MPox case.
Few days before a suspected case of monkeypox was confirmed in the national capital Delhi. The suspect, a 26 year old man from Haryana, tested positive for the virus after returning from abroad.
Meanwhile, Malaysia has reported one new case of the mpox virus; the strain has been identified as a less severe variant and not the notorious and highly transmissible clade 1b strain. The case was detected on Monday in a man who began showing symptoms of fever, sore throat, and cough on Sept. 11, with a rash appearing the following day, the Malaysian health ministry said in a statement. From July till date, a total of 10 cases have been identified.
Monkeypox infection: When to seek medical help
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. Common symptoms of mpox are a skin rash or mucosal lesions which can last 2–4 weeks accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.
Mpox is a serious health concern. The virus can be spread through close contact with someone who has mpox, it can spread through contaminated surfaces, and it can also spread through infected animals. Pregnant women are at a high risk as during pregnancy, the virus may be passed to the fetus, or to the newborn during or after birth.