FIVE ACTIVE CASES OF MPOX IN THE PHILIPPINES FROM NCR AND CALABARZON
The Department of Health (DOH) is now monitoring five active cases of mpox (monkeypox) in the country as two new cases were recorded on Wednesday. It was just also this week when the department announced two new cases of patients 11 and 12 from the National Capital Region (NCR).
Mpox cases in the Philippines since 2022 reached 14 with two new cases recorded from female and 12-year-old male (Photo courtesy of NIAID/ABS-CBN News)
According to DOH spokesman Assistant Secretary Albert Francis Domingo, the two new patients include a 26-year-old woman from Metro Manila and a 12-year-old male from CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon). Both patients don’t have a travel history outside the country three weeks before symptoms started.
The 13th mpox case is the 26-year-old female from NCR whose symptoms began on August 20, "She noticed rashes on her face and back accompanied by fever. One day later, she consulted at an outpatient clinic, which advised her to undergo home isolation. On August 23, she followed up by phone call, describing additional rashes in her pubic area, arms and trunk. She also developed a sore throat and swollen neck lymph nodes."
While the 14th case is a 12-year-old boy from Calabarzon whose symptoms began on August 10 with fever, "He also developed rashes mainly on the face, legs, trunk and pubic area, extending to other parts of the body. He also had a cough and swollen lymph nodes in the groin area."
Same from the last two patients of mpox, the two new active cases have the milder Clade 2 variant which is not the deadly strain sparking global alarm. “Exact circumstances of sample collection and the mechanism of close, intimate, and skin-to-skin contact are still being determined,” the DOH said.
The DOH stated that “Anyone can get mpox. Mpox can be transmitted to humans through close, intimate contact with someone who is infectious, with contaminated materials like used clothes or utensils, or with infected animals.”
"Heightened surveillance leads to a flashlight effect — our people become more aware, and we detect more cases. The situation strengthens our health system — we can find, test, and treat mpox. We will be ready should clade 1b get here," said Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa.
Source: ABS-CBN News
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