No Monkeypox in Central Region—GHS

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has debunked claims of two confirmed cases of Monkeypox in the Central Region.

It says the reports are untrue and should be treated with the contempt it deserves.

Dr Kwabena Sarpong, the Deputy Regional Director of Public Health, assured the public that there was no confirmed case in the Assin-Fosu Municipality of the Central Region but urged them to remain vigilante and maintain personal hygiene.

He said the Service had heightened surveillance to pick up, manage, and institute the necessary control measures should there be an occurrence in the region.

Dr Sarpong told the Ghana News Agency on Monday that it was important the public stuck to hand hygiene practices and the wearing of masks, especially in enclosed places, as the mode of transmission of the disease was like the COVID-19.

The initial presentation is like most infectious diseases; fever, weakness, and chills, he said, and monkeypox is suspected when the skin lesion sets in.

However, he said it was important that when people felt unwell, they should self-isolate, especially when investigations had not been done to ascertain the cause.

The disease, Dr Sarpong said, could be infectious before one could fully show the symptoms and, therefore, must avoid direct contact with people once they showed those symptoms.

The first known human infection was in 1970, in a nine-year-old boy in a remote part of Congo.

Most patients only experienced fever, body aches, chills, and fatigue and those with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands that could spread to other parts of the body.

The incubation period was about five days to three weeks although people mostly recovered within about two to four weeks without hospitalisation.

Monkeypox could be fatal for up to one in 10 people and was thought to be more severe in children.

People exposed to the virus are often given one of several smallpox vaccines, which have shown to be effective against monkeypox, while anti-viral drugs are also being developed to control the disease.

Members of the public have been advised to report to the nearest hospital when not feeling well and experiencing some skin rashes.

GNA