MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Monkeypox has reached Tierra del Fuego and Magallanes Region

Tierra del Fuego has confirmed four cases, three in Ushuaia, one in Rio Grande and another four suspects.

Monkeypox has reached Tierra del Fuego and Magallanes Region in Chile. Tierra del Fuego province head of Epidemiology Office confirmed three cases in Ushuaia, one in Rio Grande and four more suspects. On the other side apparently a case has been reported in Puerto Natales, a woman who recently visited neighboring Argentina, while Chilean authorities announced that the country has enough vaccines to begin inoculation in October.

Juan Petrina head of Tierra del Fuego Epidemiology Department said that “there is no need to alarm...the virus is not similar to that of Covid, and despite fears of another epidemic, this is not the case”.

Furthermore “there are no links among the four cases, be it not the fact they have all recently travelled or have been in contact with other people who has been in the northern provinces of Argentina, where monkeypox has been detected for several months,” explained Dr. Petrina.

He added that the virus disease has been circulating in central Africa for many years. “Early this year it started to disseminate first in Europe, in Asia and finally the Americas. We have several cases in Argentina, and now it has reached Tierra del Fuego”

Petrina said it is “a direct contact disease, skin to skin, particularly, with minor injuries, and although there are studies trying to check if it can also occur by breathing transmission, so this far has proved negative. However bed sheets help contagion”

“So take care, but no need to alarm, since it is a mild disease, self limited, and in most cases does not need hospitalization.”. Symptoms include fever, 38/39 degrees, headaches and muscle pain, “but the most common symptom are the minor lesions, with small reddish pimples in different parts of the body, back, hands, mouth, genitals...”

“It-s not a sexual transmitted disease, but sexual relations and skin contacts could lead to contagion; faced with any symptoms, check with a doctor; there is no need to isolate a patient but monitor him closely for some 21 days, to control the evolution”

Meanwhile in Chile sanitary authorities confirmed that vaccination against monkeypox most probably will begin in October. Deputy Health minister Cristobal Cuadrado announced that Chile had reached an agreement with the Bavarian Nordic laboratories.

“It-s a vaccine with modified live virus which has proved to be safe and efficient, and has been used successfully in other countries”.

Chilean authorities said monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with the symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks. Severe cases can occur. In recent times, the case fatality ratio has been around 3–6%.

The disease is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus.

The monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.