MindanaoToday.com | DOH-10: Mpox spreads by risky sexual exploits
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – All, except one, of the 17 cases of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) in the Philippines since 2022 had been traced to unsafe sex, the Department of Health in Region 10 (DOH-10) said.
Though not one comes from Northern Mindanao, DOH-10 has called on all frontline health workers to keep an eye on patients with mpox-like symptoms. Its disease surveillance system is in place these past weeks.
DOH-10 infectious disease specialist John Daniel Estandarte, in a KonsulTayo forum on September 6, 2024, said eight of the 17 are active cases, infectious, and are currently in home isolation.
Ages of active mpox patients range from 14 to 37 years old, all from Luzon, and contact tracing has been ongoing particularly those who had sexual contacts with them.
Estandarte said the teen patient probably got the mpox virus by fomite, that of touching infected surfaces such as furniture, utensils, and clothing.
All mpox patients disclosed of having sexual encounters prior to the detection of their infections. Only one is female while the rest could be classified as men having sex with men (MSM).
Human-to-human transmission can occur through direct contact with infected skin or body fluids, including sexual contact.
Estandarte said that based on the profiles of the active mpox patients, infections were through “prolonged and intimate sexual contact.”
Hence, the medical doctor’s advice was abstinence from sex and being faithful to one’s partner, similar to those in the advocacy to avoid catching HIV-AIDS, if one has been infected with mpox virus.
He said that the most visible signs of infection are rashes on areas of contact such as the genitals, mouth, and hands and swollen lymph nodes on neck and underarms. These are accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness.
Diagnosis, he said, can be confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing a specimen from a lesion.
Patients with skin rashes that eventually form blisters and crusts over them remain infectious until lesions have scabbed and healed.
The other nine mpox patients had recovered, but the scars left by the mpox virus-caused blisters remain. It was supposed to have been eliminated sometime in May of 2023.
Mpox, he said, which is an infectious viral disease is not new because the first case was confirmed by the DOH on July 28, 2022. It was formerly known as monkeypox which is caused by the West African clade of virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern on August 14, 2024 due to an mpox epidemic in Africa, affecting 12 countries.
In the past eight months this year, there were over 17 thousand cases of mpox in Africa, including 517 deaths, the continent’s center for disease control and prevention reported.
As of December 31, 2023, there were almost 3,000 cases of mpox in 10 countries outside Africa, including 22 deaths.
On August 19, this year, the DOH announced that a positive case of mpox has been confirmed, a 33-year old male in Metro Manila with no prior history of travelling overseas but was sexually active. Seven other mpox patients were subsequently detected. (MT)
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