THE Department of Health (DOH) announces the country’s fourth confirmed monkeypox case, who is now in isolation.
The fourth case is a 25-year-old Filipino national with no documented travel history to or from any country with documented confirmed cases of Monkeypox.
The confirmed case was tested using real time Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR by the DOH Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). The results were released last week, August 19, 2022, and the case is being cared for and was admitted in an isolation facility.
Intensive case investigation and contact tracing is currently ongoing, according to the DOH.
The agency added that to date, fourteen close contacts have been identified, where one case is being taking care of in an isolation facility, while six others are undergoing quarantine. One is a healthcare worker who had complete personal protection equipment (PPE) at the time of consultation of case, was assessed as low risk, and is now self-monitoring. Details of the other six are being verified.
All four confirmed Monkeypox cases in the Philippines are unrelated to each other, the DOH pointed out. The first case, it said, has already recovered and was discharged from isolation August 6, 2022. The second and third cases are still in home isolation and in stable condition, and no new contacts of these cases have been identified.
Monkeypox is not considered a sexually transmitted disease, but it is often transmitted through close, sustained physical contact, which can include sexual contact with those who have rashes or open lesions. It is not like COVID-19 that spreads mostly through the air. Monkeypox symptoms are mild, and the disease is rarely fatal.
The DOH said that the spread of Monkeypox can be prevented by avoiding close, sustained physical contact with suspected cases, especially those with rashes or skin lesions. keeping hands clean and face masks should be worn.
“Ating tandaan na magkaiba ang Monkeypox at COVID-19. Ang Monkeypox ay kumakalat kapag nadikit sa balat ng may sakit na ito na siyang nakikitaang may mga butlig, o kaya sa kagamitan na nahawakan ng may sakit. Kung nakararanas ng lagnat, pamamaga ng kulani, at mga butlig sa balat, agad na kumonsulta sa pagamutan (Let us remember that Monkeypox is different from COVID-19. Monkeypox spreads through skin-to-skin contact with cases who have rashes or skin lesions, or with objects that have come into contact with the case. If you have fever, swollen lymph nodes, and rashes or skin lesions, immediately consult your healthcare provider),” said Dr. Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire, DOH Officer-in-Charge.