PH records 18 new mpox cases

EIGHTEEN new mpox cases were recorded throughout the country as of August 18, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa reported on Monday.

Five of the cases have recovered, while 13 are in home isolation.

Herbosa said three of the new cases are in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and Metro Manila.

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa

So far, 27 mpox cases have been recorded since July 2022, 13 of which are active.

“The good thing is, all the 18 cases that we have picked up as of now have not infected anyone. They don’t have an epidemiological link. This means that when we isolate them, the transmission of the disease stops,” said Herbosa.

He said the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved any mpox vaccine.

“If there is, those are contraband,” said Herbosa.

The Philippines is not on the priority list of the World Health Organization (WHO) for mpox vaccines.

Herbosa said vaccines are not necessary for controlling the spread of mpox in the Philippines because the disease “is easy to control.”

“With good public health prevention, detection and isolation, we can prevent mpox from spreading, unlike those that are spread via air. Unlike measles and Covid 19, which really need vaccines. In fact, this vaccine will only help people who are at high risk of dying. We will only give this to people with HIV or with other concomitant illnesses,” Herbosa said.

The mpox virus can be transmitted to humans through close and intimate contact with someone infectious, through contaminated materials like used clothes or utensils, or through infected animals.

The public has been advised to use soap and water to kill the virus and to use gloves when washing contaminated materials.

Mpox symptoms include a skin rash or mucosal lesions, which can last two to four weeks. The rashes are accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) issued a mpox polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing re-training for the hospitals that had responded as testing sites in 2022 when mpox was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO.

The hospitals are Baguio General Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, San Lazaro Hospital, Vicente Sotto Medical Center, Southern Philippine Medical Center, Western Visayas Medical Center and Bicol Medical Center.

The East Avenue Medical Center is ready to conduct mpox PCR testing apart from the RITM.

WITH PNA