The Pan American Health Organization, together with the Ministry of Health and Fiocruz, organized the first training for laboratory diagnosis of monkeypox for health professionals from seven countries in South America.
The coordinator of this initiative, Edson Elias, who is also a virologist and head of the Enterovirus laboratory at Fiocruz, explained to CNN Radio that the disease “is not common in the southern hemisphere”.
“Actually, it is endemic to Africa, but, given the emergence of cases with local transmission, surveillance in all directions is necessary to contain the disease,” he said.
According to the virologist, this surveillance “counts on the laboratory, from the identification of the virus, to be able to know if it is circulating, it is important to train for other countries in South America.”
Edson Elias stated that they will now “have the ability to locally make the laboratory diagnosis of the disease.”
In Brazil, there are already three confirmed cases of the so-called “monkeypox” – two in São Paulo and one in Rio Grande do Sul.
All patients had recent trips to countries such as Portugal and Spain and have a good clinical picture.
Edson Elias believes there is potential for monkeypox to be of concern. “While the WHO does not believe it will be a health emergency at the level of Covid-19, there is person-to-person transmission.”
“The disease does not have the same severity as the original smallpox, but in a small percentage it causes serious damage,” he added.
According to him, the mask is an important protection tool, as well as looking for a health professional at the first sign of symptoms.
*With production by Isabel Campos
Source: CNN Brasil
