Confirmed cases of monkeypox have emerged around the world. The Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health said on Monday (23rd) that it has sent letters to all private doctors in Hong Kong to remind them to pay attention to suspected monkeypox cases.
According to the letter sent by Zhang Zhujun, director of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Centre for Health Protection, to private doctors, if a patient is suspected of being a monkeypox case, the private doctor must isolate the patient from other patients and report to the CHP.
As for the criteria for reporting suspected monkeypox cases, the letter emphasizes that two factors, clinical and epidemiological, must be met.
In terms of clinical factors, the patient presents with an acute rash of unknown origin, together with fever, chills, or swollen lymph nodes.
However, monkeypox can be ruled out if another diagnosis fully explains the symptoms.
Zhang Zhujun sent a letter to private doctors on Monday titled "Monkeypox Beware", referring to the recent confirmed cases in non-monkeypox-endemic countries such as Europe and North America, saying that as of May 21, there were 92 confirmed monkeypox cases and 28 confirmed cases of monkeypox. Suspected cases have been reported to the World Health Organization.
According to WHO, the majority of these cases were found among MSM who presented to primary care or social health units.
The letter also mentioned monkeypox, a disease caused by the monkeypox virus, with symptoms including fever, severe headache, muscle pain and swollen lymph nodes in the first few days after contracting monkeypox.
About one to three days after the fever, sores develop in the mouth and rashes on other parts of the body.
Symptoms usually last 14 to 21 days, and patients usually resolve on their own.
In past monkeypox outbreaks, the mortality rate for patients has ranged from 1% to 10%, with higher rates in children.
▼The full text of Zhang Zhujun's letter▼
The letter also sets out the criteria for reporting suspected monkeypox cases, emphasizing that two factors, clinical and epidemiological, must be met.
In terms of epidemiology, patients must have traveled to monkeypox-endemic countries, including Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria, within 21 days of onset; or have been to non-monkeypox-endemic countries, such as Belgium, Canada, France, and Germany, etc. Contact with someone who has a similar rash or confirmed monkeypox, or has regular close contact between men and women.
Epidemiological factors are also in line with epidemiological factors if the patient had contact with dead or live wild animals, or animals in African monkeypox-endemic countries, or had used creams, lotions, and powders made from related species on the 21st day of illness.
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