Ho Chi Minh City has 6 more cases of monkeypox

The above information was promptly reported by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health to the People's Committee about the epidemic situation on October 16. Currently, 12 patients are isolated and treated at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases, with stable health.

Of the 19 cases, two entered Vietnam from Dubai last October, one was discovered after exiting the country via Taiwan, and the rest were domestic cases. Experts believe that the pathogen has been circulating in the community, silently spreading through many generations. Sequencing the virus gene from the third patient in Ho Chi Minh City showed that the virus strain had a different genotype than the first two cases entering from Dubai.

Last week, Long An recorded its first case of the monkey season. Binh Duong also recorded its second case, a 19-year-old man in Thuan An City, who was infected by a male patient living in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thus, Vietnam has so far recorded 22 cases of monkeypox. This disease is also spreading in many countries and in the Southeast Asian region.

Doctors say that we should not worry too much because monkeypox is not easily spread in the community, it is only easily transmitted to certain risk groups such as gay men, bisexual men, people with many sexual partners, people who do not use condoms... The disease is transmitted in a similar way to HIV through contact, friction with blisters, sexual intercourse with an infected person, but the virus will be completely eliminated and will quickly heal if the patient has good immunity.

People should be vigilant and proactive in taking preventive measures if they are in a high-risk group and avoid close contact with people suspected of having the disease. In case of suspected symptoms such as an acute rash of unknown cause accompanied by one or more other signs such as fever above 38 degrees Celsius, swollen lymph nodes, headache, muscle pain, back pain, weakness... This person should proactively self-isolate, avoid sexual intercourse, and contact a medical facility for timely monitoring and advice.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, the locality is currently dealing with five epidemics including dengue fever, hand, foot and mouth disease, pink eye, monkeypox and Covid. The health sector continues to closely monitor the epidemic situation in the locality and region, promptly responding to possible situations.