Eight-year-old in Andhra found with suspected Monkeypox symptoms

AMARAVATI: An eight-year-old boy in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur was found with suspected symptoms of monkeypox.

Health officials said on Sunday that his samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.

The boy has been admitted to the isolation ward at Government General Hospital (GGH), Guntur.

The boy, son of daily wage workers from Odisha, approached the hospital with fever and rashes. The doctors isolated him and collected his samples. The samples, including swab from throat, blood, urine, from lesions on skin, have been sent to Pune.

Officials said the reports are likely to be available on Monday.

The boy's parents came to Yedlpapdu in Palnadu district in search of work 15 days ago. He developed fever and rashes a week ago and his parents initially thought it was nothing serious. As the boy's condition didn't get better even after a week, they rushed him to Guntur GGH on July 28.

The doctors examined the boy and noticed rashes and fever, both symptoms of Monkeypox and shifted him to an isolation ward.

According to doctors, his condition is stable. His parents have also been kept under observation as a precautionary measure.

This is the second suspected case of Monkeypox in Andhra Pradesh. The first suspected case was reported from Vijayawada on July 17.

A two-year-old child, who had gone to Dubai with family, was found with skin rashes on return. However, the samples sent to NIV, Pune tested negative for Monkeypox.

Last week, the first suspected case of Monkeypox in neighbouring Telangana had also tested positive.

The 40-year-old man had arrived in Kamareddy town from Kuwait on July 6. He had later developed fever and rashes on the body.

Suspecting it to be a case of Monkeypox, doctors had sent him to Hyderabad, where he was admitted in Fever Hospital. However, the samples tested negative for Monkeypox.