PH logs 18 mpox cases

MANILA – The country has logged 18 confirmed cases of mpox (formerly monkeypox) as of Aug. 18, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said on Monday.

Herbosa said five of the cases have recovered.

"This means na-release na sila sa isolation, eleven na lang po ang nasa home isolation, anim po sa Calabarzon, isa sa Cagayan Valley, 'yung nalang po ang mga naka-confine (they have been released from isolation, eleven are in home isolation, six in Calabarzon, one in Cagayan Valley, these are the only ones confined)," he said in a press conference.

All of the cases have no epidemiological link as they have not transmitted the infection to anyone, he said.

To date, Herbosa said the Food and Drug Administration has not approved any vaccine for mpox in the Philippines.

"Right now, nakapila ako for vaccines, 2,500 doses pero 'di pa siya nakakapasok (I have requested for vaccines, 2,500 doses, but they are not yet in the country)," he said.

The Department of Health (DOH) is expecting to receive the mpox vaccines in a few months.

However, the Philippines is not on the priority list as the World Health Organization (WHO) announced to pour the supply of jabs in countries experiencing an mpox outbreak.

Herbosa said detection and isolation can control the spread of the disease and cleanliness and good hygiene are key in preventing it.

"Vaccines will only be given to people who are at high risk to die, if the person has HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) or other concomitant illness," he added.

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) has issued an mpox polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing re-training for the hospitals that have responded as testing sites in 2022 when mpox was declared as a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO.

These hospitals are Baguio General Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, San Lazaro Hospital, Vicente Sotto Medical Center, Southern Philippine Medical Center, Western Visayas Medical Center and Bicol Medical Center.

Currently, the East Avenue Medical Center is ready to conduct mpox PCR testing apart from the RITM.

"I've ordered the chair of our national task force to buy additional test kits kasi paubos na, parang 1,800 lang 'yun nung nag umpisa kami (we only had 1,800 [kits] when we started)," Herbosa said.

"We test about 25 to 30 [patients] a day at karamihan negative (and most of them are negative)," he added. (PNA)