According to the Ministry of Health, after treatment, her fever has gone. The blisters on her face, hands, and feet have dried up, flaked off, and cicatrised, while those inside her throat have been healed. With her pain gone, the patient eats well, gains weight, and is optimistic. 

The female, a 35-year-old resides in Ho Chi Minh City, fell ill on September 18 while traveling in Dubai with symptoms of fever, fatigue, chills, muscle aches, headache and a cough, as well as red, itchy bumps on her arms, body, and face. She returned to Vietnam on September 22.

On September 23, she was admitted to the city’s Tu Du Hospital and then transferred to the municipal Hospital of Dermato Venereology, where she was isolated. Two days later, she tested positive for monkeypox and was transferred to the municipal Hospital for Tropical Diseases for further isolation, treatment and genetic sequencing.

Director of the General Department of Preventive Medicine Phan Trong Lan said when being suspected for having the virus, the patient was considered a positive case. Therefore, the Ministry of Health and Ho Chi Minh City have handled all stages of surveillance, testing, and zoning following recommended guidelines.

In addition to decoding the viral genome, the municipal Hospital for Tropical Diseases has safely treated the patient and worked with the city’s Center for Disease Control to conduct the epidemiological investigation, zoning, isolation, and monitoring of people and medical staff who had close contact with the patient.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on October 12 announced that more than 70,000 people were infected with monkeypox across the globe; 26 of them died.

Since the beginning of 2022, the disease been reported in 106 WHO member countries./.  VNA