8-year-old boy shows monkeypox symptoms in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh

An 8-year-old boy from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh has shown symptoms of Monkeypox on Saturday according to the doctors of the Government General Hospital (GGH), Guntur.  

District Medical and Health Officer, Dr Sumaiya Khan said that they suspect it to be a case of monkeypox. In order to confirm, the doctors of GGH have sent samples to the National Institute of Virology, Pune and Gandhi Hospital, Secunderabad.

The 8-year-old has been receiving treatment for symptoms of monkeypox in an isolated ward of GGH Guntur, Andhra Pradesh and doctors have been awaiting reports to take further action. 

India has already reported four cases of monkeypox, three from Kerala and one from Delhi. The Central Government and the NITI Ayog have directed that there is no need to panic as significant measures are being taken to control the spread of the disease.

The monkeypox virus comes from the same family of viruses as the variola virus, which causes smallpox. The rarely fatal disease shows symptoms similar to smallpox like fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, chills etc.  

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that cases from non-endemic countries have been rising and monkeypox is endemic in countries such as West and Central Africa. 78 countries have reported more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox according to the WHO.  

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