The Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh City this morning said that a 30-year-old male patient hailing from Long An Province died of monkeypox (mpox) in the late stage of immunodeficiency at the Hospital of Tropical Diseases.

According to a report from the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the patient was hospitalized on October 2 when he had blisters for 9 days and a fever. The patient confirmed mpox infection after the PCR results was placed in a single-person room when he was admitted to the hospital for treatment. Worse, he tested HIV positive as well.

According to the department, 18 out of 20 monkeypox patients who are receiving treatment in the city's Hospital for Tropical Diseases were also diagnosed with an infectious syndrome caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

The 18 patients have been diagnosed with B20, a term widely used for those with any known prior diagnosis of an HIV-related illness as per the World Health Organisation’s International Statistical Classification of HIV Disease.

Of the total, there are two severe cases with sepsis, cellulitis, perineal infection, malignant syphilis, draining lung abscess, and skin infection.

Vietnam has so far confirmed a total of 22 monkeypox infections, with two transmitted outside of the country. Most of the patients are from the southern region.

The source of transmission of the other cases remains unknown.

Monkeypox is currently listed as a Group B infectious disease in the country, meaning it is capable of spreading quickly and causing death.

The disease is capable of spreading from person to person via large respiratory droplets and direct contact, including sexual intercourse.

Common symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, lymph node swelling, and rashes.