The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has received 31 bids from manufacturers showing interest in developing vaccine against the monkeypox virus after the medical body floated the Expression of Interest (EOI) for the development of vaccine and diagnostic kits, a source said on Saturday.
According to the source, of the total 31 bids, eight companies have submitted the EOI for the vaccine development while 23 firms showed interest towards the development of kits.
However, no company has been awarded the tender yet and it is currently under evaluation, the source added. The manufacturers would develop the vaccine through public-private partnership.
The ICMR had invited the EOI for the development of vaccine and diagnostic kits for monkeypox last month on July 27.
The EOI was invited from the experienced vaccine manufacturers, in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) kit manufacturers for joint collaboration in developing of vaccine candidate against monkeypox. The last date for submission of EOI was August 10.
Meanwhile, the national capital on Saturday reported one more monkeypox infection, taking the case tally to 5. Of the five infected patients, one has been discharged and four are being treated at LNJP Hospital.
So far, India has reported 10 cases of monkeypox infection.
Meanwhile, Delhi has reported its fifth confirmed case of monkeypox, said Suresh Kumar, medical director of Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Hospital on Saturday.
The patient is a 22-year-old woman, a Nigerian national, who has been living in Delhi. She has a history of visiting a foreign country about a month ago, he said.
“She was admitted with fever and skin lesions and she has tested positive for monkeypox,” Dr. Kumar said.
This is the second case of a woman testing positive for monkeypox in Delhi and her condition is stable.
The Capital confirmed its first case of monkeypox on July 24, a day after it was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization. That first patient has recovered and was discharged from the hospital in the first week of August.
Currently, there are four confirmed monkeypox patients being treated at Lok Nayak Hospital. “We have sent samples of three of them for testing. They will be discharged if their samples test negative,” Dr. Kumar said.
The Delhi government said district surveillance units (DSUs) are in place for contact tracing and follow-up and have been sensitised as per the Central government guidelines.
“Instructions have been issued to all government/private hospitals to notify all suspected cases of monkeypox as per the case definition and refer them to designated hospitals for isolation and management, in coordination with the district surveillance units,” an official statement said.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease (which can be transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to smallpox, although with less clinical severity. It was first discovered in 1958 in colonies of monkeys kept for research, hence the name ‘monkeypox’.
The incubation period (interval from infection to onset of symptoms) of monkeypox is usually from 6 to 13 days but can range from 5 to 21 days.
The ‘Guidelines on Management of Monkeypox Disease’ issued by the Centre states that the transmission of the monkeypox virus happens primarily through large respiratory droplets, generally requiring prolonged close contact.
Human-to-human transmission of the virus can occur through direct contact with infectious skin or lesions. Transmission can also occur from contaminated materials such as linen, bedding, electronics, and clothing that have infectious skin particles.
Symptoms include lesions, which usually begin to appear within one to three days from the onset of fever, lasting for around two to four weeks, and are often described as painful until the healing phase, when they become itchy.
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