Doctors urge caution over more monkeypox cases entering the country

The Ministry of Health states that there is a risk of monkeypox-infected individuals arriving in Sri Lanka from foreign countries since it is a disease that continues to spread in other countries of the world.
 
Joining a virtual discussion regarding monkeypox, Dr. Chinthana Perera, a specialist doctor of the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health stressed that there is a possibility of even asymptomatic patients entering Sri Lanka from foreign countries.
 
“We have managed to refer the recently-reported monkeypox patient for treatment at a government hospital. But still, there is a risk of more individuals infected with the disease coming to Sri Lanka. He [the first monkeypox patient] was referred for treatment since he displayed the symptoms. Some people may arrive with no symptoms of the disease, but infected.”
 
Dr. Chinathana Perera also emphasized that it is of much importance that the health officials and Community Health Units remain alert regarding the issue, as it is possible for an outbreak of monkeypox to emerge in our country, increasing the number of patients even though the cases reported worldwide are dropping at present.
 
Commenting further on the matter, the doctor stated that it is possible for the disease to spread even among children, but only 0.3% of the reported cases so far are that of children under the age of four.
 
“Children are most likely to be infected [with monkeypox] if a family member gets infected.  If you protect yourself, the children are not at risk of getting infected”, he added.
 
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director General of Public Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Mahendra Anand expressed that currently there is no need for vaccination to control the spread of monkeypox.