Facade of the DOH main office in Manila. INQUIRER.net file photo
MANILA, Philippines — Wearing face masks is effective to prevent being infected with monkeypox, an infectious disease expert said Wednesday.
Monkeypox is a rare disease that is less infectious and can cause less severe illness than smallpox.
“Tuloy naman po talaga iyong ating surveillance at iyong ginagawa natin ngayon na naka-mask tayo lahat, actually mabisa rin iyon to prevent monkeypox and it doesn’t spread as fast. Mas madali siyang i-contact trace and iyon nga, it’s not deadly,” Dr. Edsel Salvaña, member of the Technical Advisory Group of the Department of Health (DOH), said in a Laging Handa public briefing.
(Our surveillance is ongoing and masking is effective to prevent monkeypox and it doesn’t spread as fast. It is easier to trace contacts and it’s not deadly.)
On top of masking, good airflow, sanitation, and physical distancing — measures that will also protect people against COVID-19 — will prevent monkeypox transmission.
Salvaña allayed the public’s worries, saying that, unlike COVID-19, health professionals have knowledge about monkeypox as it is not a new disease.
“Actually, there are medications that are proven to work on this, wala lang dito sa bansa pero (it’s just not here in the country). What we’re saying basically is hindi po talaga ito parang (it’s unlike) COVID na wala talaga tayong alam nang nag-start noong (wherein we do not know anything when it started in) March 2020,” he said.
“Marami na po tayong alam sa monkeypox. Gumagana po iyong bakuna against smallpox against monkeypox and of course, mayroon nang mga gamot na nakitang mabisa against smallpox and monkeypox,” he added.
(We know many things about monkeypox. The smallpox vaccine is working against monkeypox and of course, there are effective medicines against smallpox and monkeypox.)
Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 among monkeys. The first human case meanwhile was registered in 1970 in Congo.
Monkeypox symptoms include fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes.
To date, there is no monkeypox case in the Philippines but there are 12 countries that have detected infections.
Despite the threat, the country is not keen on closing its borders yet.