The Ministry of Public Health confirmed that a 25-year old Dominican national who recently returned from the United States is the first in the Dominican Republic to receive treatment for monkeypox. The man is hospitalized at the Air Force Base Dr. Ramon de Lara Teaching Hospital in eastern Santo Domingo.
Public Health Minister Daniel Rivera said there is not a reason to be alarmed because the disease is only transmitted with very close contact with an infected person. He said it was the young man who had contacted the public health authorities. He called for medical personnel around the country to report any suspected case. Any suspected case should be reported to the Department of Epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health.
First Lieutenant Jose Ureña Vásquez, the infectologist who is attending the patient, shared an update on the patient during the Wednesday, 6 July 2022 press conference of the Ministry of Public Health. He said the man had gone on his own to the hospital after he was notified from the United States that he had been in contact with an infected person. The physician said that the person is responding positively to the treatment of the rashes in several areas of his body.
Dr. Ureña Vásquez explained that the disease has an incubation period of 21 days. He said patient No. 1 has been receiving treatment for 11 days and his condition is stable. The incubation period of monkeypox virus is usually 6 to 13 days, but can vary from 5 to 21 days.
The infected person has had close contact to four relatives, but none of these have shown symptoms and are under observation.
A PCR test at the Dr. Defilló National Laboratory confirmed the disease.
Dr. Ronald Skewes, director of Epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health, explained that as it is a notifiable disease, once a suspected case is detected, the information mechanisms are activated, according to the International Health Regulations (IHR). He said in this case the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States was notified so they can make the due contact tracing.
The disease is usually self-limiting and symptoms usually resolve spontaneously within 14 to 21 days. Symptoms may be mild or severe and lesions may be very itchy and painful.
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N Digital
7 July 2022