The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday issued guidelines to States/UTs on the management of the monkeypox virus. This comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it has spread to 24 nations with over 435 confirmed cases.
Check out the guidelines:
a) Contacts should be monitored at least daily for the onset of signs/symptoms for a period of 21 days from the last contact with a patient or their contaminated materials during the infectious period. In case of occurrence of fever clinical/lab evaluation is warranted.
b) Asymptomatic contacts should not donate blood, cells, tissue, organs or semen while they are under surveillance.
c) Pre-school children may be excluded from day care, nursery, or other group settings.
d) Health workers who have unprotected exposures to patients with monkeypox or possibly contaminated materials do not need to be excluded from work duty if asymptomatic, but should undergo active surveillance for symptoms for 21 days.
Check out the preventive measures:
a) Avoid contact with any materials, such as bedding, that has been in contact with a sick person.
b) Isolate infected patients from others.
c) Practice good hand hygiene after contact with infected animals or humans. For example, washing your hands with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
d) Use appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when caring for patients.
Additional Precautions:
a) PPE (Disposable gown, gloves, N95 mask, Eye goggles) should be donned before entering the patient’s room and used for all patient contact. All PPE should be disposed of prior to leaving the isolation room where the patient is admitted.
b) Hand hygiene (following standard steps of hand hygiene) after all contact with an infected patient and/or their environment during care.
c) Correct containment and disposal of contaminated waste (e.g., dressings) in accordance with Biomedical Waste Management guidelines (2016 & subsequent amendments) for infectious waste.
d) Care when handling soiled laundry (e.g., bedding, towels, personal clothing) to avoid contact with lesion material.
e) Soiled laundry should never be shaken or handled in manner that may disperse infectious particles.
f) Care when handling used patient-care equipment in a manner that prevents contamination of skin and clothing.
g) Ensure that used equipment has been cleaned and reprocessed appropriately.
h) Ensure provisions are in place for cleaning and disinfecting environmental surfaces in the patient care environment.
i) Hospital disinfectant currently used for environmental sanitation may be used as per recommendations for concentration, contact time, and care in handling.
Read the full advisory here:
