NEW DELHI: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is planning to conduct serological (blood serum) survey on contacts of monkeypox patients to identify and assess the incidence of asymptomatic cases, sources said. Till date, 10 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed across India.
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found monkeypox symptoms seen in the current outbreak significantly different from those reported in the previous ones in African regions.
The study, based on a retrospective analysis of symptoms seen in 197 men who tested positive for the infection in London over the last few months, also found that only a quarter of them (26.5%) had known contact with someone with confirmed monkeypox infection, raising the possibility of transmission from individuals who were either asymptomatic or had few symptoms. “Understanding these findings will have major implications for contact tracing, public health advice, and ongoing infection control and isolation measures,” the BMJ said in a statement.

Classic descriptions of monkeypox infection include fever, malaise, sweats, swollen lymph nodes, and headache, followed by skin eruption 2-4 days later. According to the study, historically, the skin lesions have appeared simultaneously and progressed sequentially.
“The government has taken several steps to prevent the spread of monkeypox, from an awareness campaign in collaboration with state governments to setting up a national task force to monitor the development of diagnostics and vaccines,” Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya had recently said in the Parliament. He added that there is “no need to panic” over monkeypox, as it is “not a new disease” and spreads only through “deep and close contact”.
“Monkeypox spreads through deep contact. The disease can spread from mother to child and from husband to wife also and not just any specific community,” Mandaviya said, in reply to a question on whether the disease affected the LGBT community more.