Monkeypox in India: Survey reveals only 6% concerned about Mpox; 13% still worried about COVID-19 | Health News
A survey by LocalCircles found that in a large sample size, only a handful of people were aware of the Mpox variant that is currently driving a global surge in cases. Although the last case in India was reported from Kerala in March 2024, the infection has since then been declared a global emergency by the WHO. The government of India is doing all in its might to mitigate the implications of this virulent strain of Mpox, but are people doing enough? Clearly not!
Mpox, earlier known as monkeypox, has been on the rise in Congo for decades.
New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Monkeypox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on August 14, 2024, in view of its prevalence and rapid spread across many parts of Africa. According to experts, what started out as a serious disease in the Congo region has not spread its tentacles elsewhere. There have reports of active cases nearer home in Pakistan and the Philippines. The virus, especially the current strain – Mpox-Clade 1b, has so far killed more than 500 people. This is mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the disease has been spreading since 2023. The country saw more than 96 per cent of the world’s roughly 17,000 recorded cases of Mpox.
There has been no recorded case of the viral disease in India since March but it is a good step forward that health agencies are taking this global threat seriously and working towards containing its spread in a proactive manner. The virus is a product of zoonosis, and the infection causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions. Is it fatal? It can be in some cases, which is why Mpox is considered to be a health emergency.
Fatal or not, it is the transmissibility of the virus that is a chief concern in India. Although the nature of its spread is restrictive. Unlike Covid-19, Mpox only travels upon close skin-to-skin contact.
Global status
According to data, since 2022, the WHO has reported 99,176 cases and 208 deaths due to Monkeypox from over 116 countries and since the 2022 declaration by WHO, a total of 30 cases were detected in India with the last case in March
2024. But since then we have not had a case thus far.
The virus has since then been categorised as Clade 1 and 2. The former, found mainly in Central Africa, is more virulent and has a high mortality rate. Clade 2, however, has shown milder symptoms and is found in western Africa. The latter caused a public health emergency in 2022, wherein some 300 cases — though mild — were reported from Sweden.
Now, it’s the newer and more serious Clade 1b, that is driving the current outbreak across the globe with Pakistan and Sweden facing quite a huge caseload.
India’s preparedness is on point
The first Mpox case was detected in Kerala way back in 2022 from a traveller from the UAE. The virus quickly spread within the country. Even New Delhi reported several cases of the virus. India reported 27 confirmed cases and one death that year, according to WHO. In 2024, the last officially reported Mpox case also was found in Kerala, again in person with international travel history. This was in March but since then no new cases have been recorded.
The government and the health ministry have upped their surveillance and are continuously revisiting guidelines for effective management of the disease. Prompt detection is key and our laboratories are cut to the task. “It may not pose a serious threat to our lives like Covid or Swine Flu because the virus spreads only via contact but one needs to be extremely careful. The strain is constantly mutating and changing itself. We don’t have enough data to support incoming strains,” a senior virologist Dr Neelam Panda said at a press conference arranged as a public awareness campaign for Monkeypox.
The government also has certain measures in place like sensitising the health units at all the airports, seaports, and ground crossings; readying the 32 testing laboratories, gearing up health facilities for detecting, isolating and managing any case, etc.
People and their awareness
There is a lot that is being done at the ground level to mitigate dangers that could arise out of a global health emergency like Mpox. While there is constant media reportage about the cases, the mortality rate, the symptoms and the dangers of the virus, there is still some confusion in the minds of the people with regards to the disease. Dr Panda blames it on our lackadaisical attitude. “Until there are many deaths reported, we won’t sit up and listen. The government is already working on possible vaccines for the disease but people don’t know about how Monkeypox can affect their lives,” she stresses.
Just to be clear, Mpox infections are generally self-limiting, they last for about two to four weeks and patients generally recover with supportive management. The transmission requires prolonged close contact with an infected case and is mostly through the sexual route, direct contact with body/lesion fluid, or contaminated clothing/linen of an infected person.
LocalCircles has conducted a survey to understand level of concern amongst the public in regard to Monkeypox, Covid and other viral illnesses since it is the virus season. The survey received over 10,000 responses from citizens located in 342 districts of India. While 68 per cent respondents were men, 32 per cent women answered their queries. 43 per cent respondents were from tier 1, 25 per cent from tier 2 and 32 per cent respondents were from tier 3 and 4 districts.
The findings are pretty startling.
- The question posed to these respondents was – At this point which virus infection are you and your family concerned about?
- 13% indicated “Covid”
- Only 6% indicating “Monkeypox”
- 29% stated “none of them”
- 29% stated “other viral infections”
- 23% of respondents did not give a clear answer
This goes to show that from a big sample size of around 10k respondents, only 6 per cent were concerned about Monkeypox at this time. Which also means that if Monkeypox were to start spreading rapidly suddenly, many could get caught unaware. While the government and health agencies are working towards containing any dangers of the infection, it requires equal effort from the people as well.
To start with, let’s revisit hygiene protocols that were set up during the Covid era. Secondly, no fever should go undiagnosed at this stage… seek an appointment with your general physician even for the simplest of viral.
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