Cornwall Regional Hospital can make adjustments to treat monkeypox, says SMO

WESTERN BUREAU:

Following the recording of one local case of monkeypox, Dr Derek Harvey, the senior medical officer (SMO) at the Cornwall Regional Hospital [CRH] in St James, says that the Type A facility can be repurposed as necessary to treat any cases that may appear in western Jamaica.

“Monkeypox is going to be one of those diseases which requires isolation and it depends on the symptomology of the patient,” Harvey said.

He told The Gleaner that steps would have to be made to repurpose [the CRH building] again similar to what has been done with COVID-19. “So if somebody becomes very symptomatic and has to be kept in hospital and isolated, what we’ll do is go back to converting some of the spaces which were opened for non-COVID persons and make them monkeypox isolation areas,” the SMO said.

His declaration comes two days after Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton told a press conference that the viral infection was confirmed in a patient who had recently returned from the United Kingdom. The patient was isolated and his close contacts quarantined following contact tracing.

Monkeypox is transmitted from person to person by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets, and contaminated materials such as bedding and clothing.

Symptoms of the disease include fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes, and can last between two to four weeks.

Following the discovery of the monkeypox case, the health ministry warned that with entertainment activities set to take place during the summer period, partygoers should observe health protocols to protect against the spread of both monkeypox and COVID-19.

The CRH, which is western Jamaica’s only Type A medical facility with 383 available bed spaces, has been undergoing rehabilitation work to correct a noxious fumes issue which resulted in several of its departments being relocated in 2017. Some of the hospital’s bed spaces are currently housed at the Falmouth Public Hospital in neighbouring Trelawny.

The hospital’s capacity to treat monkeypox if any such cases should be found in western Jamaica may be easier due to the lowered number of COVID-19 patients who are currently on the hospital’s ward. At present, there are six COVID-19 patients in-house at the CRH, a significant reduction from the 18 who were there last year May.