MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine man with monkeypox dies in Mexico

Molina had also tested positive for HIV

Santiago Molina, a 28-year-old man who contracted monkeypox and was hospitalized in Mexico, has died or a cardiac arrest, it was reported Tuesday. The patient passed away Sunday but the case only went public Tuesday.

He had spent 21 days at a medical facility in Mexico after catching the malady the World Health Organization (WHO) last month declared public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) but his overall state was so deteriorated that he developed a multi-organ failure.

“He had bronchoaspirated, one of his lungs collapsed and he went to therapy with intubation,” one of his relatives was quoted as saying by local media. He had previously tested positive for HIV.

“To all Santy's friends and acquaintances, we want to communicate that he has sadly passed away. He will always be in our hearts,” Moolina's mother, Claudia Follin, posted oon her Facebook account.

Molina's body is to be cremated in Mexico and his ashes then flown to Argentina, where the number of monkeypox cases rose from 10 to 22 in one week, according to the Health Ministry's latest Epidemiological Bulletin featuring data collected up to Aug. 24. Two of these patients have been hospitalized, the doocument also noted. In addition, the number of people who sought medical help suspecting mpox went up from 53 to 96. Of the confirmed cases, only five were found to have traveled recently or had been in contact with people who had.

”After the alert issued (in the second week of August), the sensitivity of the surveillance system increased, reaching 42 notifications of suspected cases in the following week (44% of the total number of notifications of all those registered during the year so far), which allowed the detection of nine of the 22 confirmed cases so far this year,“ the Argentine Health Ministry's report stated.

”With the data available so far, the most affected populations are men who have sex with men (79% of 14 cases with data for epidemiological variables) and the main risk factor is the history of sexual relations with multiple new and occasional partners,“ the document went on.

”In 100% of the cases with information on signs and symptoms (19 cases), the presence of rashes in different parts of the body (genital and perianal area, hands, face and torso) was recorded, followed, in frequency, by fever and muscle pain,“ it added.

The authorities also insisted on the importance of ”avoiding skin-to-skin contact with infected persons or with symptoms such as fever, general malaise or skin lesions.“

”Suspicion or confirmation of [smallpox] should be an opportunity to systematically offer testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs),” the health advisory further underlined.