KOLLAM: With the health department identifying the driver of the taxi car in which the monkeypox patient from Kollam had travelled to Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, all his primary contacts have been isolated. Drivers of two autorickshaws in which the 35-year old man travelled after arriving from the UAE last week were isolated earlier.
The first monkeypox patient in the state has been admitted to an isolated facility at the Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram. His condition is stable and he is recovering, said health officials. Parents of the patient who had closely interacted with him have also been admitted to the medical college for observation. They don’t have any symptoms, said hospital authorities.
The district administration has identified 11 people who came into contact with the infected person since his return from the UAE on July 12. They include parents, drivers and a dermatologist who first examined him. ‘’We have issued guidelines to all of them and they are under observation’’, said district medical officer Dr Bindu Mohan.
If anybody shows symptoms such as fever, redness on the body, itching and pimples over the body, they should immediately report to the nearest health centres, said the DMO. The authorities of NS Memorial Hospital where the infected person was treated first denied charges that they did not alert the administration about the suspected case. The hospital authorities said that the patient arrived at the hospital in his own vehicle and he decided to travel to the government medical college in the same vehicle. The hospital was ready to provide an ambulance but he rejected it. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that transmits through close contact with an infected person or animal.