Monkeypox training still ongoing, says WRHA director

WESTERN BUREAU:

With St James having one of the two most recent cases of the monkeypox found in Jamaica, the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) is stepping up its training and education drive to sensitise stakeholder groups, including schools, about the disease.

In a brief comment to The Gleaner on Tuesday, St Andrade Sinclair, the WRHA’s regional director, confirmed that one new case of the virus was found in St James. However, he did not provide any additional details on the infected person or his medical or travel history.

“This information is something that developed between yesterday (Tuesday) and today (Wednesday), but it is one anecdotal case and it is not much detail, so as to the details of contact tracing, I do not have that,” said Sinclair. “I have not gotten any written reports yet from the parishes served by the WRHA, as most of our parish officers are busy now doing a meeting with the Pan American Health Organisation on the aftermath of COVID-19.”

St James had previously recorded one case of monkeypox in August, with that case being the second instance of local transmission in Jamaica. The parish’s most recent case is also said to be locally transmitted.

The second newest case, also locally transmitted, was found in St Elizabeth, where one other case had previously been recorded.

SIMILAR PROTOCOLS

Regarding the training of healthcare providers on how to handle monkeypox cases, Sinclair said that the protocols which are now in place continue to be similar to those which were instituted for COVID-19 prevention.

“There has been ongoing training [concerning monkeypox], and everyone has been sensitised, from the school and community level all the way up, and it is ongoing. It is almost similar to what we did for COVID-19, with handwashing, social distancing, and wearing your mask, which we still encourage,” said Sinclair.

As at Wednesday, 45 persons have been quarantined since Jamaica confirmed its first case of monkeypox on July 6.

The monkeypox virus was discovered in 1958 and is part of the same family of viruses as the variola virus which causes smallpox. Symptoms of monkeypox, which can run from two to four weeks, include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, exhaustion, and a rash that looks like pimples or blisters on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has indicated that healthcare workers who directly care for monkeypox patients without appropriate personal protective equipment, as well as household contacts of confirmed patients, will be prioritised to receive the monkeypox vaccine once the inoculants arrive in the country later this month. Approximately 3,500 doses of the vaccine have been promised to Jamaica.

There have been 56,026 confirmed cases of monkeypox globally to date, with 55,515 of those cases being reported in locations that have not historically recorded cases of the disease. Jamaica has had nine confirmed cases to date.