Raising concerns of a suspected second case of the disease in the state, the Bihar health department on Sunday sent the samples of a 20-year-old man from Aurangabad district to DelhiтАЩs All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to test for monkeypox, officials said.
This is the second sample from the state that has been sent to AIIMS, Delhi within a week for suspected monkeypox infection. On August 1, samples of a 22-year-old man from Gaya were sent for examination, but the results returned negative.
тАЬThe man, who showed break-outs on his body, especially palm and feet, had extreme weakness. He had returned from New Delhi around a week or two back. Doctors who examined the patient found that the break-outs on his body had fluids,тАЭ Dr Kumar Birender Prasad, civil surgeon (CS) of Aurangabad, said.
тАЬThe suspect has been asked to isolate at home and medicines have been provided. He is showing signs of improvement,тАЭ Prasad said. тАЬWe collected and sent his samples to Patna Saturday evening, and expect to get the results soon.тАЭ
Also Read:Monkeypox: Health ministry lists dos and donтАЩts on viral disease. Read here
The Centre has approved around 15 laboratories for monkeypox testing. Bihar has been tagged with the laboratory of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in Kolkata, as the state does not have a facility to test for the viral infection.
Health authorities on July 26 collected the samples of a 45-year-old woman from Patna City, but did not send her sample for testing as doctors later found that she did not have fever and or any other monkeypox symptoms.
The most common symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes. This is followed or accompanied by rashes that can last for two to three weeks. Rashes may appear on the face, palms, soles, eyes, mouth, throat and groin. The number of lesions can range from one to several thousand.
State surveillance officer Dr Ranjeet Kumar did not respond to repeated phone calls.
