Bengaluru: Karnataka on Thursday reported this year's first case of Mpox, earlier known as Monkeypox, in a 40-year-old man from Mangaluru. The National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, which examined the suspected man's Mpox samples confirmed it, according to a release from the Karnataka Health & Family Welfare Department.
The man, a native of Karkala in Udupi district, had returned to Mangaluru on January 17 after residing in Dubai for the past 19 years. Upon his arrival, he exhibited symptoms of rashes and had a history of fever two days prior. He was promptly isolated at a private hospital, and his MPox samples were referred to Bangalore Medical College (BMC) and subsequently to NIV, Pune, the release said.
"The said person is stable and does not have any serious complications. He is likely to be discharged shortly," it added. His 36-year-old wife, who received him at the Mangaluru Airport has been identified as a primary contact and has been advised isolation for a few days to watch the development of any symptoms.
Mpox is a mild self-limiting disease in most of the cases, except for few immune compromised patients having comorbidities who need to exercise greater caution. The treatment for the disease is generally management of symptoms like medication for fever, bodyache and antibiotic for secondary infection from infected lesions/rashes etc as well as ensuring sufficient hydration, nutrition, rest, etc the department said.
Mpox generally spreads only through very close and intimate contact. The infectivity of the disease is not as severe as that of COVID-19, it said.
The public are advised not to panic on the reporting of the case in view of the mild nature of the disease as well as its much lesser infectivity. But they are advised to watch for common symptoms associated with the disease like skin rashes along with fever, headache, muscle aches, chills, sweating, sore throat & cough and get themselves tested, especially if they have a travel history to countries declared as high risk for this virus or if they have been in very close contact with persons affected with M Pox, the release added.
