[ad_1]
JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 20 (PTI) The monkeypox virus remains a cause for concern in South Africa as the number of cases in the country continues to rise, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said on Friday.
“Although the disease caused by monkeypox is not too serious, the current rising number and positive cases have become a cause for concern, so we cannot ignore it,” Phaahla told the media here.
Also read | Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi lays off more than 900 jobs amid global economic crisis: report.
“I say this because on August 17, we received a report from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NICD) that we found a fifth positive case of monkeypox, a 28-year-old male from Johannesburg, He is traveling through the history of Europe, the Netherlands and Spain,” Phaahla said.
Phaahla said the link between the five cases has not been established at this stage, but NICD is investigating a possible link between the last two cases because both infected people had travelled to Spain, which has recorded 5,000 positive cases and Two deaths. Monkeypox.
The minister stressed that the four earlier cases were all mild infections and had recovered. One of the tourists from Switzerland has returned home.
The fifth case was also mild, confirmed by a private laboratory.
Fahra advises those traveling to be careful.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) is not recommending any travel restrictions, but those travelling should exercise the utmost caution,” he said.
While there are three vaccines for monkeypox globally, none is available in South Africa, Phaahla said.
The minister said that although the country has stopped vaccinating against smallpox since it was eliminated worldwide in 1984, people over the age of 40 will develop some form of monkeypox due to their earlier vaccination. immunity.
“Scientists recommend that mass vaccination is not necessary at this time as the situation is still under control. But I need to point out that while this is the case, we are monitoring the situation and working with our scientists, we will require our The Vaccination Ministerial Advisory Committee also weighs this and advises us on the current situation. It should be the case,” Phaahla said.
There are currently no smallpox or monkeypox vaccines or antivirals registered with regulators, Phaahla said.
Commenting on the lifting of all Covid-19 restrictions two months ago, Phaahla said this was evidenced by the continued decline in infections and hospitalisations in South Africa.
Globally, there are more than 40,000 cases of monkeypox, about half of which are in Europe. Earlier this week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there had been a 20 percent increase in reported cases over the past two weeks, with nearly all infections reported as men who were gay, bisexual or who had sex with other men. Other than men who have sex with men, there are no signs of ongoing transmission, although a small number of women and children have also contracted the disease, the WHO said.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
[ad_2]
Source link