India Taking Steps to Develop Monkeypox Vaccine, 8 Cases Reported So Far: Minister
NEW DELHI, Aug 2: India so far has reported eight cases of monkeypox and a national task force has been set up to monitor the development of diagnostics and vaccines, the union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Replying to queries during Question Hour, he gave details about various steps being taken to prevent the spread of the disease, and to develop testing kits and vaccines to combat it. Till date eight cases of the disease have been detected in India, out of which five have foreign travel history, the Minister said.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has successfully isolated the monkeypox virus and an expression of interest has been floated for research institutions, vaccine and diagnostic kits manufacturers in India to take the virus strain for further research to develop a vaccine in the country, he added.
In a written reply to a question on measures and preventive action initiated by the government, the Minister said, “A national task force on monkeypox disease has been constituted to monitor the development of diagnostics and vaccines for the management of monkeypox disease.”
Airport and port health officers have been instructed to remain vigilant and undertake rigorous health screening of incoming international passengers.
The Minister said the National Institute of Virology, Pune under ICMR had been designated as a referral laboratory for testing suspected cases. In addition, 15 other ICMR-VRDL (Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory) network laboratories have been optimised to undertake diagnostic testing for monkeypox disease.
He said Central teams have been deployed, on the detection of confirmed cases, to the affected districts to assist in control and containment efforts by State authorities. In response to another supplementary question, Mandaviya said the government has relied on the experience of tackling COVID-19, to be alert and prepared in advance to prevent the spread of any disease.
He said when the disease was first reported globally in May, India had already started preparing to tackle it. Much before the first case in India was reported in Kerala on July 14, the centre on May 1 had given guidelines to all states, and not just for international airports, on surveillance mechanism and contact tracing, how to collect samples from suspected cases and sending it to recognised laboratories for testing.
With the disease spreading only through close and deep contacts, he said no specific community is at risk and the government has taken up steps to create awareness about common symptoms, reporting of suspected cases and prevention from the disease.
Mandaviya said WHO has reported 18,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox globally from 78 countries and five deaths till July 27, 2022.
Meanwhile, after the third case of monkeypox surfacing in Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal government has ordered the setting up of isolation wards for patients and those suspected of contracting the disease.
The Delhi government has directed three private hospitals to set up isolation rooms, sources said. The hospitals are MD City Hospital in North Delhi, Kailash Deepak Hospital in East Delhi and Batra Hospital in South Delhi. Each hospital will have to prepare five rooms for suspected cases and five rooms for confirmed cases. A 35-year-old foreigner with no recent history of travel tested positive for Monkeypox in Delhi on Tuesday. The man was admitted to the government-run LNJP Hospital on Monday.
(Manas Dasgupta)
