The Minister of Health, María Begoña Yarza, referred to the Public Health Emergency of International Interest declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the current outbreak of Monkeypox after more than 16,000 cases have been registered worldwide in 75 countries, most of them in Europe.
On the situation in Chile, Minister Yarza sent a message of tranquility to the entire population, and assured that the country “is alert and has the capacity to evaluate and give care to any person who arrives at an emergency service when they have injuries that are suspicious,” adding that there is an installed testing capacity, traceability and isolation of cases in all regions of the country. In particular, he highlighted the diagnostic capacity of certainty, giving the population “the peace of mind of having a diagnosis from the installation in the Institute of Public Health of the PCR examination”.
On the occasion, the Minister stressed that on June 17, in line with the recommendations of the WHO, the Ministry of Health decreed a Health Alert for the disease, a measure that will govern until September 30, 2022 throughout the country, realizing that “It has allowed us to have not only the surveillance that we already had since May, but to intensify it and have at every point of our network the ability to suspect and confirm if necessary.”
“We also want to inform you that we are coordinating with PAHO and with the entire healthcare network, the Undersecretariat of Public Health and the Department of Epidemiology, and the entire health system, coordinating all the initiatives and information necessary so that, in this emergency of international interest, we carry out all the activities and implement all the necessary measures so that, just as we did with COVID, let’s move forward,” he said.
The conference was also attended by the Undersecretary of Public Health, Cristóbal Cuadrado, the Undersecretary of Healthcare Networks, Fernando Araos, the head of the Department of Epidemiology of Minsal, Christian García, as well as the paho representative and reference for the management of health emergencies, Mario Cruz.
Chile currently has 39 confirmed cases of Monkeypox, 1 probable case, 55 ruled out cases and 16 discharge cases.
What are the symptoms?
Normally it is an acute skin rash on the hands and feet, however, many of the cases have presented a few lesions or even a single lesion. They are of special care and suspect lesions that occur in the genital, perineal or perianal area. These lesions may be preceded by headache, sudden onset of fever greater than 38.5°, muscle pain, back pain, feeling of exhaustion and swelling or swelling of the lymph nodes.
How is it transmitted?
Mainly by close skin-to-skin contact, which includes sexual intercourse. Human transmission can occur by direct contact with skin lesions or exhaled droplets from an infected person, or with objects recently contaminated with from the patient’s skin or fluids (such as towels or sheets). The average incubation period can range from 6 to 13 days with ranges from 5 to 21 days. There is no evidence that the monkeypox virus is transmitted sexually.
How is it diagnosed? Do we have that exam in Chile?
For case confirmation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the recommended laboratory test. The optimal diagnostic samples for monkeypox are skin lesions: the roof or fluid of the vesicles and pustules, and dry crusts. Lesion samples should be stored in a dry, sterile tube (without viral transport media) and kept cold. The samples must be collected in compliance with the biosecurity conditions to later be processed by the ISP, which is the national reference laboratory for the diagnosis of this disease.
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