MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Monkeypox cases in Argentina go up 30%

All patients were biological males (99.5% of legal male sex and one was a legally female transgender person), but the disease can affect anyone

Argentine health authorities have confirmed the country has recorded a total of 221 cases of monkeypox until Sept. 7, a 30% increase from the previous week. The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the provinces of Buenos Aires and Córdoba account for 96.4% of infections.

The National Epidemiological Bulletin (BEN) reported suspected cases in 14 jurisdictions and confirmed cases in 9, however, more than 70% of the confirmed cases were registered in residents of CABA and together with Buenos Aires and Córdoba account for 96.4%.

The document stated that of the total, nearly 80% of the patients had no travel history of travel and that “no serious cases or deaths have been reported.”

A total 155 cases were confirmed in the city of Buenos Aires, 52 throughout the province of Buenos Aires, 6 in Córdoba, 2 in Santa Fe, 2 in Río Negro, 1 in Mendoza, 1 in Corrientes, 1 in Neuquén, and 1 in Salta.

The average age of the patients is 34 years with a minimum of 18 years and a maximum of 61 years, while 63.51% of the confirmed cases were diagnosed in the last 4 weeks.

Most people affected by the malady were men who have sex with men, with 130 of the 221 cases having admitted to that condition. The Bulletin also stated that 99.5% of the cases were of legal male sex and one is a legally female transgender person.

Authorities insisted, however, that monkeypox “can affect anyone who comes into contact with a person sick with simian smallpox, mainly if they have direct physical contact such as sexual contact, or with contaminated materials.”

Most cases have mild symptoms, although severe cases have been recorded among at-risk groups such as young children, pregnant women, and immunosuppressed people.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were over 54,700 laboratory-confirmed cases in 125 countries and territories and 18 deaths from January 1 through September 7, with 4,200 cases reported in the last week globally.