Health authorities in Ho Chi Minh City are boosting surveillance of international arrivals to detect symptoms of monkeypox, a global public health emergency that has affected tens of thousands of people in over 70 countries around the world. 

The municipal Department of Health has asked the Center for Disease Control to closely monitor entrants from abroad with observation and remote temperature meters to find out symptoms of monkeypox, Dr. Tang Chi Thuong, the department’s director, said on Sunday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health had earlier issued instructions on fighting the disease that has affected around 16,000 people in some 75 nations and killed five so far – all in Africa.

Vietnam has yet to detect any monkeypox case, but the department must be highly alert to the spreading disease and proactive in its detection and treatment, Thuong said.

Health centers and hospitals in all districts and Thu Duc City should pay attention to medical screening to early detect signs of monkeypox and conduct real-time RT-PCR tests to identify positive cases, he directed.

Monkeypox can affect people of any age and suspected cases are those having an acute rash of unknown causes and experiencing such symptoms as headaches, a fever of over 38.5 degrees Celsius, swollen lymph nodes, muscle pains, backaches, chills, and asthenia, the health department said.

Monkeypox in humans has an incubation period of five to 21 days and is transmitted by close contact through wounds, bodily fluids, large respiratory droplets, or through contact with contaminated objects, according to the health ministry.

Transmission can also be from mothers to fetuses or during close interactions between the mother and baby during and after birth.

The disease has a mortality rate ranging from 0 to 11 percent, with possible complications including secondary infection, bronchopneumonia, sepsis, encephalitis, and corneal infection with loss of vision, the ministry said.

Monkeypox patients can recover by themselves within two to three weeks, during which it can cause skin lesions and enlarged lymph nodes, the ministry said, adding that severe cases are often found in children, pregnant women, and immunocompromised people. 

People with symptoms of a suspected monkeypox case should actively self-isolate and avoid sexual intercourse, and those with confirmed monkeypox should quarantine themselves until they recover from the ailment, the department required.

Everyone is advised to avoid close contact with smallpox patients or their wounds, bodily fluids, droplets, and contaminated objects and utensils, the department said.

People should regularly wash their hands with soap and common antiseptic solutions, cover their mouth while coughing and sneezing, and immediately contact medical facilities if they have symptoms of monkeypox.

Monkeypox has been a concern for years in some African countries as an endemic disease, but the virus has spread worldwide recently, with the first case outside Africa confirmed in the UK on May 13.

The number of confirmed patients around the world rose 77 percent from late June through early this month, with men who have sex with men currently at the highest risk of infection, according to WHO data. 

On July 23, the WHO declared the spread of monkeypox to be a public health emergency of international concern, given its rapid spread.

Vietnam is now classified by the WHO as a country in group 1, which includes countries free from monkeypox by far, while some other Asian countries near it, such as China, Thailand, and Singapore, have recorded monkeypox cases. 

Monkeypox is a rare disease that is caused by infection with the monkeypox virus, which is an orthopoxvirus that causes a disease with symptoms similar, but less severe, to smallpox, the WHO said.

The first monkeypox case in humans was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox.

Despite the eradication of smallpox in 1980, monkeypox has continued to occur in countries of Central and West Africa and become endemic in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Niger.

To date, the results of a number of studies have shown that the previous smallpox vaccine is somewhat effective in preventing monkeypox.

Currently, a number of countries have approved the use of the new second and third generations of smallpox/monkeypox vaccine to curb the disease spread, while studies on their effectiveness are still underway.

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