Spain and Brazil report monkeypox-related deaths, first outside Africa

MADRID, KOMPAS.com – Spanish and Brazil each reported one related death monkey pox (monkeypox).

The report is monkeypox-related deaths first outside Africa, as reported Al JazeeraSaturday (30/7/2022).

Spain is one of the worst-hit countries in the world with 4,298 cases of monkeypox, according to a report by the Emergency and Alert Coordination Center of the Spanish Ministry of Health.

Also read: WHO Has Not Suggested Mass Vaccination of Monkeypox, but Urges All Countries to Share Effectiveness Data

“Out of 3,750 patients (monkeypox) with available information, 120 cases were hospitalized and one case has died,” said the Emergency and Alert Coordination Center on Friday (29/7/2022).

A spokesman for Spain’s Ministry of Health declined to provide further details about the patient who died. An autopsy will be performed.

In Brazil, the monkeypox patient who died was a 41-year-old man.

Also read: 2 Countries Report Death of Monkeypox, First Outside Africa

The patient was previously treated at a hospital in Belo Horizonte and died of septic shock after being taken to the intensive care unit.

“It is important to underline that he has a serious co-morbidity, so as not to spread panic in the community. The mortality rate is still very low for monkeypox,” said Minas Gerais State Health Officer Fabio Baccheretti.

So far, Brazil’s Ministry of Health has recorded nearly 1,000 cases of monkeypox, mostly in the states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Also read: Worried about stigma, this official asks WHO to change the name of monkey pox

The first case of monkeypox in the current outbreak was confirmed in the UK on 7 May.

Now, about 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been found in 78 countries around the world. And last week, the WHO declared monkeypox a global health emergency.

About 70 percent of the most recent monkeypox cases were found in Europe and 25 percent in the Americas, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday (27/7/2022).

Also read: Japan’s Turn to Find First Case of Monkeypox

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