A day after country's first monkeypox case was confirmed in a Kollam native, the District Medical Office has come under fire for major lapses in diagnosis and contact tracing.
According to Collector Afsana Parveen, the patient travelled to a private hospital in an autorickshaw and later hired a taxi to reach Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. Speaking to the media on Friday, Ms. Parveen added that the DMO could not trace the details of the auto and taxi drivers even after two days.
The Kollam DMO had earlier issued a statement according to which the patient, accompanied by his mother, had travelled to the private hospital in a paid taxi from the airport. It also said that he was sent to the Infectious Disease Department of Government Medical College Hospital, Kollam.
Later, it was revealed that the patient never visited MCH, Kollam, and the protocol was not followed. Reportedly, the patient came in contact with many others, including family members, and the route map and contact list prepared by the department were incomplete.
Meanwhile, a blame game has erupted with the DMO accusing the private hospital of not reporting the case on time. But according to the private hospital, all guidelines were followed and the patient was referred to the MCH, Thiruvananthapuram, as per the directions of the DMO. "The patient came with his parents around 5 p.m. on Tuesday and the symptoms included fever and rashes. He was referred to the dermatologist from the General Medicine Department. Since the patient was an international traveller with symptoms, it was reported as a suspected case of monkeypox. After the DMO issued guidelines, the patient was sent to Thiruvananthapuram around 7 p.m.," said the hospital officials.
