With the first cases of monkeypox detected in New York City and Miami, Florida, Dominican health authorities have issued an epidemiological alert. The preventive alert was circulated on 19 May 2022. No monkeypox cases have yet been reported in the Dominican Republic. A PCR can be used to detect the disease.
The Ministry of Public Health indicated that the incubation period for monkeypox virus is usually 6 to 13 days, but can vary from 5 to 21 days. The disease is usually self-limiting and symptoms usually resolve spontaneously within 14 to 21 days. Symptoms can be mild or severe and lesions can be very itchy and painful.
The Ministry of Public Health explains that infection occurs through direct contact with the blood, body fluids or skin or mucosal lesions of infected animals. Human infections were said to have resulted from handling infected monkeys in Africa. Today, rodents are considered to be the main reservoir spreading the virus.
Secondary or person-to-person transmission can occur through close contact with infected respiratory tract secretions or skin lesions of an infected person, or with objects recently contaminated with the patient’s fluids or lesion materials. Transmission occurs primarily by respiratory droplets, usually after prolonged face-to-face contact with the patient, exposing family members of active cases to an increased risk of infection.
Most Dominicans 50 years or more older have the smallpox vaccine. But younger generations may not since smallpox is considered eradicated for more than 40 years, and the smallpox vaccine has been discontinued and is not part of the child vaccination program. Vaccines on the child vaccination program are: BCG (Tuberculosis), Hepatitis B, Rotavirus, IPV (Polio), Neumococo, Pentavalente (Diptheria, Tetanus, Whooping Cough, Measles, German Measles and Mumps.
Read more:
DR1 Forum
WHO
Bloomberg
Ministry of Public Health
23 May 2022