The Bengal health department has asked medical colleges to create isolation beds for suspected or confirmed cases of monkeypox after four persons were diagnosed with the disease in the country.

The department also asked district authorities to ready isolation beds at other government hospitals. Moreover, microbiology departments of the medical colleges have been put on alert for collection of samples as and when a suspected case is found in the state.

“So far, no suspected case has been reported in the state. But we don’t want to be caught unprepared. We learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic that proper preparations would help us handle any emergency,” said a senior state government official.

According to sources, the Beliaghata ID hospital has already arranged some isolation beds for suspected or confirmed monkeypox cases in Calcutta. The School of Tropical Medicine in the city was asked to keep some more isolation beds ready for suspected monkeypox cases.

“If we remain alert and keep arrangements ready, we are confident that we can deal with any kind of situation,” said another official.

Sources in the health department have said monkeypox is an illness caused by monkeypox virus and it can spread from animals to humans and from person to person.

The most common symptoms of monkeypox are fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes. This is followed or accompanied by the development of a rash, which can last for two to three weeks.

“In most cases, the symptoms of monkeypox go away on their own within a few weeks. However, in some people, an infection can lead to medical complications and even death. As there is no proper treatment for the disease, we have to maintain physical distance and personal hygiene like what we followed in the case of Covid-19,” said a senior official.

Sources in the health department said the state government had started taking precautionary measures after at least one person with no travel history had been detected with monkeypox in Delhi.

“This has made us alert. This is a sign that the disease can spread if the government does not intervene. We are taking measures considering that this virus has the potential of creating panic after the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly after the WHO declared a global emergency on the spread of monkeypox in July,” said an official.

The health department has issued guidelines to be followed in case any suspected case is reported in the state.

“Once a suspected case is reported, the detailed travel history of the person has to be submitted to higher authorities mentioning the name of the airport where he/she landed. Those who were in contact with the suspected patient has to be mentioned properly so that we can keep a tab on them,” said another official.

4 more die of Covid in Bengal

Calcutta: Bengal on Thursday reported 775 Covid-19 infections, 1,943 recoveries and four deaths.

The state has currently 9,948 active patients — 9,612 in home isolation and 336 at hospitals.

According to a state government bulletin, recovery rate was 98.51 per cent and mortality rate 1.02 per cent on Thursday.

On a day 12,067 samples were tested, the positivity rate was 6.42 per cent. Since the pandemic broke out in 2020, the number of patients recorded in Bengal is 20,96,896, of whom 20,65,564 have recovered.

So far, 21,384 deaths from Covid have been recorded. In the wake of the recent uptick in cases, 97,58,422 booster doses have been administered in Bengal so far.

Our Special Correspondent