Health professionals push for gene testing to better identify and reconfirm monkeypox virus

Following the detection of Sri Lanka’s first case of monkeypox, health professionals are pressing the Medical Research Institute to carry out a gene test for reconfirmation of the virus. Health Ministry officials confirmed that a 20-year-old man who had arrived from Dubai earlier this week for treatment for a suspected Sexually Transmitted Disease, had tested positive for the virus.   A gene test will also confirm the variant and its virulency, the countries where it is prevalent and how it is spread.   ‘The spread of this virus started recently and confirmation with a PCR test only will not suffice’, said Ravi Kumudesh, President of the Academy of Health Professionals. ‘The test will have deficiencies because it is a virus where the spread is new'. He also points out there have been improvements to test kits since they were imported to Sri Lanka. At the time, the kits were ordered through the World Health Organisation and were the best.   From what is known so far, monkeypox is spread from close contact such as skin-to-skin, and body fluids. It is still not established if it is an airborne virus.   According to Kumudesh, staff at the MRI who are handling, and testing samples of infected persons must be vaccinated because of the high risk of the virus being transmitted through them. Similarly, staff at the Infectious Diseases Hospital and persons who are close contacts of the infected person must be vaccinated. ‘These measures will help to curb the spread without incurring high costs associated with a vaccination drive’.   Health professionals are advocating for the government to be proactive and take pre-emptive steps to manage the situation. They recommend a directive for people to wear masks and gloves, especially those who are in the food industry and to have adequate PCR kits that are used to test for monkeypox. Sufficient stocks of the smallpox vaccine which is used to vaccinate against the virus will also be required.   Meanwhile, the WHO in Sri Lanka said that what is recommended for the country for now are the prescriptive guidelines which are on its website.