Monkeypox clade-2 virus in India: A case of monkeypox, which has caused havoc in many countries of the world including Africa, has also been reported in India. A suspected patient found in India was confirmed to have monkeypox in laboratory tests. Currently, the patient has been kept in an isolation ward created for monkeypox in a hospital in Delhi and is being constantly monitored.
Let us tell you here that a few days ago, the Union Health Ministry had asked AIIMS, Safdarjung, RML and Lady Harding Medical College to reserve wards for monkeypox patients. It said that only suspected cases will be kept in AIIMS and after confirmation, they will be transferred to Safdarjung Hospital. Apart from this, isolation wards have also been created for monkeypox in LNJP and Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital. Therefore, at present this patient has been admitted to the isolation ward of LNJP Hospital.
The 26-year-old man returned from a trip to a monkeypox-infected country
According to the information given by the central government, this 26-year-old youth has returned from a trip to a country infected with the monkeypox virus. The patient is currently clinically stable, and does not have any other disease or severe symptoms of monkeypox. It is a West African clade-2 virus. The matter of relief is that this patient is infected with monkeypox. However, the virus found in the investigation has no connection with the epidemic spread in Africa.
The patient found in India has clade-2 virus
According to health experts, there is no need to fear or panic even if a monkeypox patient is found in India. The reason for this is the clade-2 virus found in the patient.
WHO has declared a global health emergency
Professor Dr Suneet K Singh, Director, Dr Ambedkar Centre for Biomedical Research, New Delhi, says, “There are two types of viruses that cause monkeypox. The first is clade 1, and the second is clade 2. The monkeypox virus currently spreading in East and Central Africa is caused by the clade 1 virus. It has been declared a global health emergency by the WHO.”
Clade-1 virus is more dangerous and infectious than Clade-2
Not only this, historically clade-1 has been responsible for severe diseases. So 10 percent of people who died of monkeypox were also suffering from this virus. Clade-2 viruses have a much lower infection rate and severity. Therefore, clade-1 viruses are more dangerous, infectious and deadly than clade-2 viruses.
Although there is one positive case of monkeypox in India at this point in time, 30 cases of the clade-2 virus have been found in India since 2022, which is not part of the World Health Organization's health emergency. Infections and deaths in Africa are caused by clade-1. So in India you need to be careful, not panic.