Three days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the mpox outbreak a global public health emergency, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) yesterday issued a guideline to control the disease.
It detailed the dos and don’ts of preventing mpox. It also described the symptoms and treatment of the disease.
The DGHS also advised people to contact 16263 or 10655 immediately, if any symptoms of mpox appear. However, no mpox patient has been found in Bangladesh so far.
Meanwhile, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) yesterday started screening the temperature of the passengers who arrived from abroad.
Mpox was first identified in monkeys in Denmark in 1958. WHO said that the disease has already spread to Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, Sweden and Kenya. Mpox was also detected in Pakistan for the first time on Thursday.
WHO declared a state of emergency for the disease twice in the last two years. Last Wednesday, it declared mpox a global public health emergency over the upsurge of the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa.
Regarding the spread of the animal-borne disease, DGHS said that mpox virus was initially transmitted from animals to humans. But now it is being transmitted from person to person. Mpox belongs to the same class of viruses responsible for smallpox, but it is much less harmful than smallpox.
Mpox’s typical symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, lack of energy, swollen lymph nodes and skin rash or lesions. Swelling of the lymph nodes is a distinctive feature of Mpox, according to the DGHS guideline.
According to the guideline, mpox spreads mostly in direct physical contact, liquid of vesicle and pustule, body fluid, sneezing, coughing and physical intercourse.
Those who have previously been vaccinated against smallpox are significantly protected from mpox infection. The mpox vaccine is not available, however, the smallpox vaccine is largely effective in combatting mpox.
The last time the smallpox vaccine was administered in the country was in 1980, according to DGHS.
”If someone has the symptoms of mpox or comes into contact with an infected person, or develops any symptoms within 21 days of travelling to a country where the disease has been reported, please contact 16263 or 10655,” said the DGHS in a press release yesterday.
About the treatment of mpox, DGHS said that in most cases, the symptoms of mpox are relieved on their own, so specific treatment is not required for it.
The DGHS asked people to eat nutritious food and drink enough water if anyone is infected with mpox.
“Consult a doctor and take medicine if the mpox-related complications get worse,” said the guideline.
