ASIATODAY.ID, BANGKOK – The Mpox virus is now starting to spread in the Southeast Asia region.
On Wednesday, August 21 2024, Thailand reported its first case of infection with a new, more dangerous variant of the mpox virus.
Mpox has been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global public health emergency.
Head of Thailand’s Disease Control Department Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn said the suspected mpox patient was a European citizen who arrived in the country on August 14 from an African country.
Laboratory testing is being conducted to confirm the strain, but officials believe the mpox strain is from cladistica 1. The infected person has been quarantined in hospital.
“We did a test and they actually had mpox and it was definitely not cladistic 2,” Thongchai said.
“We believe the person is infected with the kladitiska 1 variant, but we have to wait another two days to see the final results in the laboratory.”
Cases and deaths from mpox are surging in Africa with outbreaks having been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda since July 2024.
This disease is caused by a virus transmitted by infected animals. But it is now transmitted from human to human through close physical contact, causing fever, muscle aches and large skin lesions such as boils.
Although mpox has been known for decades, a new, deadlier and more transmissible strain, known as cladistica 1b, has caused a recent spike in cases.
According to WHO, cladistic 1b causes death in around 3.6 percent of cases, with a higher risk in children.
MPOX case in Indonesia
The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia announced that there were 88 cases of monkey pox (Mpox) in Indonesia based on the latest confirmed data as of Saturday, August 17 2024.
Daily Acting Director General of Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) of the Ministry of Health, Yudhi Pramono, said that of this number, 87 cases had been declared cured.
Weekly trend of Mpox confirmed cases in Indonesia from 2022 to 2024, the period with the most cases occurred in October 2023.
“Of these 54 cases, all are Clade IIB variants. The majority of Clade II spread the Mpox outbreak in 2022 until now with lower fatalities and is transmitted mostly from sexual contact,” said Yudhi.
He explained that the 88 Mpox cases in Indonesia were spread across Jakarta with 59 cases, West Java with 13 cases, Banten with 9 cases, East Java with 3 cases, Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) with 3 cases, and Riau Islands with 1 case.
Yudhi said that 54 of the 88 cases met the criteria for Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) to identify variants of the Mpox virus.
He explained that there are two Clade Monkeypox (Mpox) viruses, namely Clade I originating from Central Africa (Congo Basin) with subclade 1a.
According to him, subclade 1a has a higher fatality rate (CFR) than other clades and is transmitted through several transmission modes. Meanwhile, subclade 1b is transmitted mostly from sexual contact with a CFR of 11 percent.
In contrast to Clade I, he said that Clade II originated in West Africa with subclades IIa and IIb with a CFR of 3.6 percent. Clade II has a low CFR with cases mostly originating from sexual contact during the outbreak in 2022.
Please note that this disease is transmitted through direct contact with purulent rashes on the skin, including during sexual intercourse. Yudhi said that sexual relations between men have a big risk of transmitting this disease.
He also appealed to the public to use medical masks if they feel unwell. If symptoms appear, such as a purulent rash or scabs on the skin, immediately go to the nearest clinic or hospital.
The Ministry of Health has carried out a number of prevention efforts, including surveillance in all health facilities, conducting epidemiological investigations with the HIV/AIDS community and partners, establishing 12 national reference laboratories for Mpox examinations, and conducting WGS examinations. (AT Network)
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