Mpox less deadly, not second Covid-19, expert Epidemiologist tells News18

Dr R. R Gangakhedkar

Mpox (monkeypox), the infectious disease that has been declared as a public health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO), can’t be termed as the second Covid-19 and is also not comparable to coronavirus in terms of lethality or being a hidden danger, a former Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) scientist told News18 on September 10.

Dispelling fears of facing one more pandemic, the country’s top epidemiologist Dr Raman Gangakhedkar said there is no reason to panic. “The death rate of this infection is low, and is relatively easy to identify a case because lesions appear on the skin after three to five days of fever,” he told News18 , while applauding the Union government’s efforts to zero in on the case at the earliest.

India’s first Mpox case was confirmed on September 9, and the health ministry said that a man who recently travelled from a country experiencing Mpox transmission has been tested positive for the disease. The patient, a young man, was reportedly admitted at Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital on September 9 and his condition is said to be stable currently.

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Gangakhedkar, who represented ICMR during government briefings on Covid-19, told News18: “This world is a global village and disease-causing germs can travel across. But, we picked up this case early which shows the strength of our surveillance mechanism at airports. If we keep on isolating quickly and do an efficient contact tracing followed by isolation, there is no reason to panic at all.”

Compared to Covid-19, Mpox is less deadly, said Gangakhedkar. He explained that during Covid-19, even the carrier of the virus would not know that they are transmitting the virus to vulnerable people. While the virus in that case was airborne but in case of Mpox, the disease is visible through skin wounds and gets transmitted via direct contact with secretions, he said.

Since people aged 45 years and above have already received smallpox vaccination, they are protected from acquiring the infection. This leaves the younger population to be susceptible to Mpox. However, their bodies are generally stronger and more resilient to combating illnesses, the expert said.

Gangakhedkar signed off with one word of caution - “Don’t hide any lesions or boils on the skin that appear after fever.”