Mpox alert: 3 Delhi govt hospitals directed to set up isolation rooms for monkeypox

Monkeypox outbreak: Three Delhi government hospitals have been directed to set up isolation rooms for suspected and confirmed cases of monkeypox or Mpox. Officials, however, stressed that there were no patients that were detected with monkeypox infections so far.

"Three Delhi government hospitals -- LNJP, GTB and Baba Saheb Ambedkar -- have been directed to set up isolation rooms for suspected and confirmed cases of the disease. While LNJP has been designated as the nodal facility, two other hospitals are on standby," a senior health department official said. LNJP is Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital, and GTB is Guru Teg Bahadur hospital. 

Meanwhile, as cases of monkeypox spread in many parts of Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). 

LNJP will have a total of 20 isolation rooms, including 10 for confirmed cases, while GTB and Baba Saheb Ambedkar will have 10 rooms, with five rooms for suspected cases. 

The official said that the government is fully prepared and is monitoring the situation. 

As per WHO, since 2022, 99,176 cases and 208 deaths have been reported due to monkeypox from 116 countries. These cases have steadily been increasing in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In India, 30 Mpox cases have been reported since 2022, the last being detected in March 2024.

"We convened a meeting with all Medical Directors and Superintendents, where we emphasized the current situation and shared the Standard Operating Procedures from the Government of India," a health department official said.
"The Secretary of Health also held a detailed meeting with the Medical Directors of Delhi government hospitals to address the monkeypox issue. The latest guidelines from the Government of India and the World Health Organization were shared. LNJP has been designated as the nodal hospital, and necessary arrangements, including isolation wards, will be set up in three hospitals," he added.

Health authorities have issued new isolation protocols for Monkeypox patients, requiring them to stay in separate rooms with individual ventilation systems, wear triple-layer masks, and cover skin lesions to minimise contact with others. Isolation should continue until all lesions have healed and scabs have fallen off. Monkeypox spreads primarily through large respiratory droplets, requiring prolonged close contact. It can also spread through direct contact with bodily fluids or lesion material and indirectly via contaminated clothing or linens.