GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The government has placed an order with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to ensure the country receives doses of the monkeypox vaccine by the end of next month, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony has disclosed.
He said the government is making significant efforts, although the vaccine supply is limited worldwide.
“It’s a very scarce commodity right now in the world, but we are trying to get some doses into Guyana for persons who might be exposed,” the minister said during Wednesday’s COVID-19 update.
Minister Anthony stressed the need for Guyanese to take the necessary precautions to avoid contracting the virus. There are currently about 45,000 cases globally in some 96 countries.
On Monday, Guyana reported its first virus case, and the Health Minister said authorities are not expecting any outbreak here.
That first patient is a 57-year-old man living in isolation at the Infectious Diseases Hospital. Several people who were recently in contact with him have since been placed in quarantine for monitoring.
Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that is part of the same family of viruses that causes smallpox.
Symptoms of the viral infection are similar to smallpox symptoms but milder, and monkeypox is rarely fatal. It is not related to chickenpox.
There are no treatments specifically for monkeypox infections. However, monkeypox and smallpox viruses are genetically similar, so antiviral drugs and vaccines developed to protect against smallpox may be used to prevent and treat monkeypox infections.
Studies have shown that with most infected persons, the effects start to wear off within 14-21 days. Persons can still develop complications because of secondary bacterial infections.
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