DOH tallies 2 new mpox patients in NCR, Calabarzon

A close-up of a hand with mpox symptoms.

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) reported on Wednesday two new patients who were diagnosed with mpox, bringing this year’s total active cases to five.

Like all the cases reported in the country since 2022, the latest patients have the less severe Clade II and not the Clade I variants, which are currently causing an upsurge in mpox cases in Africa.

READ: Mpox: What is it, how it spreads, care for patients

The World Health Organization said close physical contact remains the main mode of transmission, but may also include aerial droplets.

“Close contact includes skin-to-skin (such as touching or sex) and mouth-to-mouth, or mouth-to-skin contact (such as kissing),” the WHO said.

It can also include “being face-to-face with someone who has mpox (such as talking or breathing close to one another, which can generate infectious respiratory particles).”

WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said Tuesday that “if you’re talking closely to someone, breathing on them, physically close, face-to-face, there is a possibility” of viral spread, “but this is a minor source”.

“More research is needed to fully understand the transmission dynamics,” Harris added.

The WHO recommends using facemasks for those with mpox, their close contacts, and health workers treating them.

First outside Metro

The two latest cases in the Philippines included a 26-year-old woman from the National Capital Region (NCR) (Case No. 13). She is the only female among the five active cases recorded so far this year.

Case No. 14 is a 12-year-old male from Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) region, the first case recorded outside Metro Manila among the five latest cases.

Mpox is caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the Poxviridae family, which includes variola, cowpox, vaccinia and other viruses.

There are two distinct clades of the virus: Clade I (with subclades Ia and Ib) and Clade II (with subclades IIa and IIb).

Clade II caused the global outbreak from 2022 to 2023, including the Philippines, which reported nine cases. But it is less severe, with an almost 100-percent survival rate.

Local government units where Case 13 and 14 are from have been informed and have the power and authority by law to disclose more detailed information, including response actions, at their discretion, according to the DOH.

“Heightened surveillance leads to a flashlight effect. Our people become more aware and we detect more cases. All are the milder MPXV Clade II,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said.

For infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante, the overall risk of Clade Ib spreading nationwide remains “low, as long as we enhance our surveillance, awareness and the detection of these cases.”

“But for the general population, it is very low, provided that imported cases are diagnosed promptly and control measures are implemented,” he said at a forum of the Philippine College of Physicians on Tuesday. —with a report from Agence France-Presse