By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa has recorded its third death from the viral infection mpox that has seen 16 laboratory-confirmed cases so far, health ministry said on Tuesday.
Health Department spokesperson, Foster Mohale, said the latest case was a 40-year-old male from Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal.
He passed on at home and the results came back positive for mpox on the 23rd June 2024.
Mohale says another two cases were confirmed in Gauteng including, a 43-year-old man who was diagnosed on the 22nd and a 29-year-old male diagnosed in Mamelodi on the 21st.
He says this brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases of mpox in South Africa to 16.
“All cases are males, aged between 23-43 years old. The number of mpox-related deaths has also increased to three.
“The department, working with provinces and other stakeholders in the sector, has embarked on health education with funeral parlours on how to handle the human remains of demised due to suspected and confirmed mpox, “he said.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) explains mpox (previously named monkeypox) is caused by infection with the mpox virus, a member of the genus Orthopoxvirus in the family Poxviridae. There are currently more than 80 poxviruses known to science.
The incubation period for mpox is on average seven to 14 days but can range from five to 21 days.
Initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, chills and exhaustion. Within the first three days of onset of the disease, blister-like lesions will develop on the face, the extremities including the soles of the feet and palms of the hands. The lesions may, however, occur on other parts of the body.
There is no registered treatment for mpox in South Africa.
However, the NICD said, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the use of tecovirimat (often known by the brand name Tpoxx) for treatment of severe cases, such as in people with a CD4 count of less than 350 cells per mm3. (People with advanced HIV disease typically have a CD4 count this low but if they are on antiretroviral treatment, their CD4 count recovers to normal levels, typically above 500.)
The NICD said the health department has obtained tecovirimat via a mechanism known as a Section 21 authorisation. Section 21 of the Medicines Act allows Sahpra to approve the use of an unregistered medicine. This is typically done on a compassionate-use basis for patients who have no other reasonable treatment options.