LAHORE: The Punjab government has declared the Institute of Public Health (IPH) as the focal point to counter widespread rumors about the monkeypox panicking the public.
As the misinformation is rife [about the suspected cases of monkeypox], Dean IPH Prof Dr Zarfishan Tahir has been nominated as the focal person to disseminate authentic information regard to the disease.
On Sunday, two cases of suspected monkeypox were stated to be reported to the Lahore General Hospital (LGH). The samples have been dispatched for examination. According to the hospital officials, a male and a female patient had symptoms similar to those of monkeypox. Both the patients were running fever and had red spots on the body. One patient also had blisters on the body.
The hospital administration, however, says that one patient suffers from chicken pox and the other from herpes. Both the patients are under treatment.
When contacted, LGH Principal Prof Dr Sardar Zafar Fareed said he was not authorized to speak on the matter, as the government had designated IPH and its dean as the focal point/person on the infection. Talking to The News, Dean IPH Prof Dr Zarfishan Tahir categorically stated that any patient with such symptoms could not even be declared as the “suspected case of monkeypox” until someone had a history of exposure to an infected patient.
“Every day, so many patients with rashes, blisters and chicken pox visit the dermatology departments of almost all government and private hospitals, so the hospitals can’t just send everyone’s samples as suspected monkeypox case for laboratory examination unless the patient has a history of exposure,” she declared.
She criticized the rumor-mongers, as the misinformation was creating a lot of panic among the public.
“Yesterday, a rumor was circulating on the social media about a suspected case of monkeypox in DG Khan, and today, there’s a rumor of two cases of the suspected patients in Lahore in the mainstream media, which is just irresponsible journalism,” she added. As of today, she said, there were only two confirmed patients of monkeypox in Pakistan from Rawalpindi, Punjab, who were isolated on arrival at the airport from Saudi Arabia.
“The patients have been discharged after recovery by the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad,” she informed.
“Whenever, God forbid, any confirmed case was reported, I shall personally inform the media in this regard,” she added.
In a letter written to the heads of all healthcare facilities Prof Dr Zarfishan Tahir said nobody on their own could post any pictures or information about monkeypox. Any such information can only be shared with the focal person, she added.