One Mpox patient has died, four are recovering

Health Minister Joe Faala announced that one of South Africa's five Mpox patients died on Monday at Tembisa Hospital in Gauteng.

Earlier, two cases were confirmed in Gauteng and three in KwaZulu-Natal.

“All the patients are men aged between 30 and 39 years old and have no travel history to any countries where the infection is currently spreading, which suggests local transmission of the disease in the country,” the minister said on Wednesday.

The minister said the deceased was originally from KwaZulu-Natal but had not been home since December last year.

The minister made these announcements on Wednesday at a press conference centred on responding to the monkeypox outbreak in the country.

Faala said all cases were classified as severe cases requiring hospitalization, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition.

Patients have comorbidities and have been identified as key populations, including men who have sex with men (MSM).

The minister told media that one of the patients has been discharged from hospital, one is in home isolation and two remain hospitalised.

Faala explained that sequencing of the three cases revealed Mpox lineage IIb, the dominant variant in the outbreak that began in several countries in 2022 and beyond.

The last time South Africa recorded a positive case of Mpox was in 2022, with five confirmed cases in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Gauteng provinces, and no cases reported in 2023.

“Ours is therefore consistent with outbreaks occurring in several countries around the world and is distinct from the variant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” he explained.

Contact tracing

The Minister said the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) is continuing its epidemiological and surveillance activities to identify cases for investigation to estimate the scale of the disease through systematic data collection and analysis.

He told media that 38 contacts had been identified in KwaZulu-Natal and one of the patients indicated he had had multiple sexual contacts, both men and women.

Meanwhile, outbreak response teams have begun contact tracing and case finding in states where the infection is spreading.

“Anyone who knows of anyone who has had any form of exposure to the disease or has been in contact with someone showing symptoms of skin lesions or rash should be encouraged to seek medical advice from their nearest health facility.”

vaccine

There is currently no registered treatment for Mpox in South Africa.

But the minister said the WHO recommends the use of Tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX, to treat severe cases, such as those with CD4 counts below 350.

He announced that the department had obtained TPOXX through South African Medicines Regulatory Agency (SAPHRA) Section 21 approval on the basis of compassionate use for critically ill patients.

The minister said the availability of vaccines is still under review and various options are being considered, including who should be prioritised for vaccination.

But he believes priority should be given to high-risk groups, such as sex workers, MSM, health care workers and lab workers.

The Department is working with partner organizations to intensify both target and public awareness activities to ensure that citizens receive important information about Mpox.

The Minister also noted that while there are no recommendations regarding travel restrictions, he stressed the importance of managing stigma against key at-risk groups.

“I think it's fair to say that anyone who gets that kind of rash on their skin, especially adults, should go see a doctor, even if they're younger, even if they think it might be chickenpox.”

He said the government was trying to prevent further deaths.

“There has already been one fatality, a man who was reportedly so seriously ill that he was unable to swallow antiviral medication due to the severity of his ulcers and died within days.” translation: