India’s First Indigenous Monkeypox Test Kit

The Andhra Pradesh Medtech Zone recently launched the first indigenously manufactured RT-PCR kit for testing monkeypox. With the help of this kit, infection can be detected quickly. This kit was developed by Transasia-Erba Biomedicals and was launched by Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser of the Center.

Infection will be easily detected 

If we talk about the merits of this kit, then TransAsia-Erba Monkeypox RT-PCR Kit is highly sensitive. Its accuracy is very good, with the help of which people will be very comfortable in use with investigation.

First Case of Monkey Pox in India

On July 14, the Kollam district of Kerala announced the country’s first case of monkeypox. According to the World Health Organization Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis, or a virus that spreads from animals to humans. It has symptoms resembling those of smallpox but is clinically less serious. It can also be transmitted through direct contact with body fluids or lesions, and indirect contact with lesion material such as through contaminated clothing or linen of an infected person.

India so far has reported ten cases of monkeypox.

ICMR may do Sero Survey

Recently the Indian Council of Medical Research had said that it can conduct a sero-survey to check antibodies among the contacts of patients with monkeypox. Apart from this, it will also be investigated how many of those patients were asymptomatic. Significantly, monkeypox usually manifests with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes. The disease is usually accompanied by symptoms lasting two to four weeks. The ‘Guidelines on the Management of Monkeypox Disease’ issued by the Center states that human-to-human transmission occurs through respiratory droplets.