PUBLISHED : 20 Aug 2023 at 05:00
Songkhla: The Songkhla Provincial Public Health Office has detected the first monkeypox (mpox) case in the province.
The patient was reported to be a 31-year-old Thai man and native of Songkhla. The man started to develop symptoms on Aug 7 and was admitted to hospital on Wednesday. He was confirmed to have mpox the next day, Dr Songkran Maichum, chief of the Sonkhla Provincial Public Health Office, said on Saturday.
Dr Songkran said the hospital abided by the prevention measures of the provincial public health office and affiliated agencies by isolating the patient from Wednesday onwards.
The office later adopted a contact tracing process to find out who had recently been in close contact with him, he said.
One person was identified as a low-risk contact and another person was identified as high-risk, he said.
He said that 48 other people who had interacted with this patient were not considered to be in the at-risk group but his medical team advised them to monitor themselves for mpox symptoms and that they tell the medical team immediately if they develop symptoms.
Dr Songkran said that those found to be in the at-risk group will be monitored closely for 21 days in accordance with Department of Disease Control (DDC) guidelines.
Citing DDC data, on Aug 8, Thailand logged 189 mpox cases, 161 of whom were Thais.
Among them, 82 cases reportedly contracted the disease via sexual intercourse between homosexual men and some of them had HIV.
People with mpox often get a rash that may be located on their hands, feet, chest, face, mouth, or near the genitals, within 21 days of contracting the disease, he said.
Other symptoms, such as fever, swollen lymph nodes and muscle aches and headaches, are included.
People can avoid close contact — including sex — with strangers, as well as regularly wash their hands and avoid sharing personal items, he said.
Thailand recorded its first fatal case of mpox after a Thai man who was also HIV and had syphilis, died on Aug 11 of the virus, the DDC said.
He had received medication but his condition nonetheless deteriorated.