Active mpox cases climb to 8 – DOH

MANILA, Philippines — Active mpox cases in the country rose to eight as the Department of Health (DOH) recorded three more cases of the infectious disease.

“Surveillance systems report three more confirmed mpox cases – two in Metro Manila and one in the Calabarzon region,” the DOH reported yesterday. “Findings indicate that the transmission dynamics of clade II, which is milder, still hold true: close, intimate, and skin-to-skin contact.”

According to the DOH, two of the new cases had anonymous sexual encounters with more than one partner, while the other had close skin-to-skin sexual contact with another person who had skin symptoms.

The three cases pushed to 17 the total count of mpox cases since July 2022. Of the 17, nine have long recovered since 2023 while the active cases are waiting for symptoms to resolve.

DOH said one of the new cases is a 29-year-old male from the National Capital Region (NCR) whose symptoms started last Aug. 21. He had one close contact and did not travel within 21 days before the start of symptoms.

The other patient from NCR is a 34-year-old male whose symptoms started last Aug. 27. He did not travel 21 days before the symptoms began, but had sexual contact with three partners. Contact tracing is ongoing.

The patient from Calabarzon is a 29-year-old male who started having fever on Aug. 19. He did not travel within 21 days before the start of symptoms and had close intimate contact with one sexual partner who may have had the same skin symptoms. He has two household close contacts.

“Anyone can get Mpox, but it is crystal clear that the mode of transmission here is close, intimate and skin-to-skin contact,” Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said.

“Prevention is also clear: avoid intimate contact, especially anonymous ones, with multiple sexual partners,” he added.