On Monday, August 1, a circular was issued by the Government of Karnataka as a precautionary measure to keep a check on Monkeypox in the state. The circular was shared on Twitter by Health Minister K Sudhakar and has been issued to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) along with the district administrations. The circular is about enhanced surveillance, designated institutional isolation facilities, mandatory contact tracing, and sample testing.
List of measures:
- Districts must undertake enhanced surveillance by making use of standard case definitions, reporting every case of monkeypox which will be followed by an investigation by the RRT (Rapid Response Team), collection of samples, and reporting on the IHIP portal.
- Making sure of designated institutional isolation facilities at district levels for cases (suspected and confirmed).
- Mandatory contact tracing of cases (suspected) must be done. Contacts should be monitored at least daily for the onset of symptoms for a period of 21 days. If visible symptoms of monkeypox are seen, then they shall be tested and samples sent for testing.
- Sample testing shall be undertaken by sending it to the designated laboratory (BMCRI, Bengaluru). Till confirmation of result, the suspected patient shall remain in designated institutional isolation with regular monitoring of health parameters.
