Death of a man infected with monkey pox in India, the first recorded in Asia

India has recorded at least four cases of the disease, the first of which was on July 15 in another man who returned to Kerala after a trip to the United Arab Emirates.

AP - Mahesh Kumar A

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Indian authorities announced on Monday August 1 the death of a man infected with monkeypox, who recently returned from the United Arab Emirates.

This could be the first fatal case of the disease in Asia.

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The 22-year-old man died on July 30.

The Ministry of Health in the state of Kerala in southern India said tests show he " 

 ".

However, it was not yet clear whether this death was caused by the disease.

He died a week after being hospitalized upon his return from the United Arab Emirates.

“ 

 ,” Kerala Health Minister Veena George was quoted by the

saying on Sunday .

It was not until July 30, the day of the death, that his family informed the doctors of the results of a test carried out in Dubai on the 19th. These first analyzes showed that the young man was a carrier of the West African variant. of the virus.

Additional tests still need to be carried out.

According to the Kerala Ministry of Health, 165 passengers were on the same flight as him from the Emirates, but none of them had close contact with the patient.

Twenty people identified as being at high risk were instead placed under observation, including relatives, friends and medical personnel, likely to have been in contact with the victim.

Four deaths outside Africa since May

In total, including India's announcement, nine deaths have been recorded globally since May, with the first five reported in Africa, where the disease is endemic and was first detected in humans. in 1970. Spain announced two monkeypox-related deaths last week, the first in Europe, and Brazil one.

However, it is unclear whether monkeypox was the cause of these three deaths.

Autopsies are still underway in Spain.

In Brazil, the authorities claim that the patient who died had other serious pathologies.

On July 24, the WHO triggered its highest level of alert

, the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (USPPI), to strengthen the fight against monkeypox, also called monkeypox.

Most of the contamination is concentrated in Europe, where 70% of the 18,000 cases detected since the beginning of May are located and 25% in the Americas, according to the director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The WHO Regional Office for Europe also predicts an increase in the number of deaths linked to monkeypox, even if it stresses that severe complications remain rare and very often the disease is cured by itself. even, without requiring treatment.

The aim must be " 

 ", said Catherine Smallwood, an emergency manager at WHO Europe.

The first symptoms are high fever, swollen lymph nodes and a rash similar to chickenpox.

For now, the WHO stresses that there are not vaccines for everyone and therefore recommends prioritizing those who are most at risk, those who are sick and those who treat or make them. of research.

(

AFP)

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