The City of San Antonio recently confirmed the first two monkeypox cases ever discovered in the city.

As it turns out, the City of Laredo has itself recently had three cases that were deemed probable that came back negative. And Laredo Health Director Dr. Richard Chamberlain shared his views on the developments of the two South Texas cities.

“People with monkeypox in the current outbreak generally report having close, sustained physical contact with other people who have monkeypox,” Chamberlain said. “The CDC is urging health care providers in the U.S. to be alert for patients who have rash illnesses consistent with monkeypox, regardless of whether they have specific risk factors for monkeypox or traveled. Any infectious disease should be seen with caution and take steps to prevent any infection, disease or illness overall.”

The local health department says that it has been in constant communication with the state health department for any new information, and it will be speaking with the San Antonio Health Department to see how they found, isolated and are taking care of their monkeypox cases in case something of that sorts would happen in Laredo. 

“We at Laredo Health are in consistent communication with the Texas Department of State Health Services, which provides information to us concerning confirmed, probable or suspect notifiable conditions that occur in Laredo residents whom get tested or treated outside of our jurisdiction,” Chamberlain said. “Laredo Health is taking a proactive approach regarding monkeypox, and we will be in contact with the San Antonio Metro Health Department to utilize their approach and overall findings to be better prepared in the event of a local or suspected case in the future.”

The health department director also confirmed that during this month several possible cases have been of concern in the city but all came back negative.

“In the month of July, Laredo Health received three reports of individuals — one with recent travel history with similar skin rashes — but after testing, it was concluded that the potential cases were all negative for monkeypox,” Chamberlain said. 

The health director states that in order to prevent the transmission of monkeypox, people should avoid close, skin-to-skin contact with people who have a skin rash and for people to not touch the skin, rash or scabs of sick people. Also, he recommends for people to not kiss, hug, cuddle or have sexual contact with people with a confirmed case of the condition. 

Chamberlain also states that transmission of the virus can be mitigated if people do not share utensils, cups, towels, bedding or clothes. People should also wash their hands often with water and soap or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer often to make sure any particles of the virus are transmitted. 

Additionally, Chamberlain implores people to disinfect surfaces with EPA registered disinfectants such as wipes and sprays, and mopping is preferred over other cleaning methods. Dusting and sweeping should be avoided, as these might spread infectious particles as well in the home of a suspected case. 

For anybody already sick with the virus or fearing that they might indeed be infected, Chamberlain states that these people must seek immediate medical attention and isolate themselves at home, and if they have a rash, stay in a separate room from people and animals.

Also, he implores any person believed to be infected should quickly seek medical help for testing and Post Exposure Prophylaxis, which is a vaccination that should be used to prevent quickly any potential infection of the virus. 

“There are two vaccines licensed by the FDA that are available for use in the event of a local cases, however, they are being used as a pre- and pro-exposure prophylaxis,” Chamberlain said. “These vaccines are not available for the general public. Both vaccines are available from the Strategic National Stockpile and can be requested in consultation with the CDC in the event of a local case, via epidemiological investigations linked to close contact and/or exposure.”

Another health condition that continues to be monitored is the pandemic, which in the past few weeks has shown a relative increase and then decrease in what many describe as a new fifth wave. Although cases have increased in the past few weeks, the health director reports that there is no alarm right now at the moment when it comes to the COVID-19 virus, just like the monkepox virus. 

“According to the CDC COVID-19 Community Level tracking tool, Webb County is at ‘low’ level status,” the health director stated. “The jurisdiction has experienced a fluctuation in the number of cases reported. However, the number of hospitalizations and mortalities have remained low for a long period of time.

“At Laredo Health, continuous surveillance is ongoing to identify a future wave of infections. We do recommend the use of face masks and getting boosted to help reduce risk of COVID-19 infection.”

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here