DOH: No deaths due to mpox reported in PH

The Department of Health (DOH) has refuted that an individual from Central Visayas died due to infectious disease mpox, which was formerly called Monkeypox.

In a message to reporters, DOH spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said that there remains to be only nine reported cases of mpox in the Philippines, and none of them have died due to the illness which is caused by the monkeypox virus. 

Four cases were detected in the country in 2022, and another five cases were recorded last year.

Domingo confirmed that all the nine mpox cases have already recovered “long time ago.”

“Walang pasyenteng namatay sa mpox…mula sa anumang rehiyon ng bansa. Sa pinakahuling balik (8 June 2024) mula sa DOH RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine), ang lahat ng naitest for mpox ay negative ang resulta,” he said. 

(No patient died of mpox from any region in the country. Based on June 8 data by RITM, all those who were tested for mpox yielded negative results.) 

Domingo also pointed out that mpox has similar symptoms or appearance of rashes with chickenpox, shingles, and herpes. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), symptoms of mpox include skin rash or mucosal lesions, accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.

The Philippines recorded its first case of mpox in July 2022. The same month, WHO declared mpox as a public health emergency of international concern. 

The WHO put an end to the mpox public health emergency in May 2023.—AOL, GMA Integrated News