MANILA, Philippines — Two patients in the Philippines with monkeypox are still recovering, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday in an update report.
All of their close contacts — except for one individual who is taking care of one of the active infections — were asymptomatic.
One of the two patients, who is 29 years, is the third recorded monkeypox case in the Philippines and continues to recover at home even after completing the isolation period.
“While the 21st day of [the] case was last August 31, [the] case is not yet declared as recovered since not all of the scabs have fallen off yet,” the DOH said. “Status of lesions has not yet met the required lesion criteria for discharge from isolation.”
No additional rashes and symptoms, however, were observed on the patient.
Of the 17 close contacts of this patient, 13 have already finished their self-monitoring period and four have finished their quarantine.
Meanwhile, the fourth recorded monkeypox case, who is 25 years old, is also still recovering at a facility waiting for scabs to fall off.
No additional rashes or symptoms have been observed on the patient so far.
“Since currently in a facility, discharge from isolation criteria will be based on [the] assessment of the attending physician considering clinical status (including lesion stages) and/or laboratory criteria,” the DOH report said.
Eighteen of the patient’s 20 close contacts, meanwhile, have already finished their quarantine, with one still completing the self-monitoring period, and another one still assisting the patient.
The country has so far detected four cases of monkeypox, with the first and second cases already recovered and discharged from isolation.
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