Explained: A man who had monkeypox has died in Kerala, but here’s why you must not panic
India reports first monkeypox death from Kerala
It is not yet known what comorbidities this patient had, and the government has announced a probe. There have been only three other deaths outside Africa so far, and they could all have had pre-existing conditions. India has recorded its first death of a patient who had tested positive for monkeypox.
A youth who had arrived in Kerala from the UAE a few days ago and died in Thrissur on Saturday (July 30), had tested positive for the infection while he was abroad, state Health Minister Veena George said on Sunday (July 31). This case is new — separate from the three cases detected in Kerala earlier. One of those three earlier cases has been discharged from hospital, and the other two were reported to be stable on Sunday.
Who is this patient who has died in Kerala?
It is a 22-year-old youth from Punniyoor in Thrissur, who died in a private hospital in Thrissur days after he returned from the UAE. Subsequently, the Kerala Health Department had sent his samples to the National Institute of Virology’s (NIV’s) Kerala Unit in Alappuzha. On Monday, it was confirmed that he had died of monkeypox. Minister George said the man had been diagnosed with monkeypox while he was abroad, but his family had informed the hospital in Thrissur only on Saturday. Sources in the Health Department said the youth had reached Kerala on July 22 and had visited a hospital on July 26 after he developed a fever. He was moved to another hospital later, where he was put on life support, and where he died on Saturday afternoon.
How many people who were infected with monkeypox have died so far?
The multi-country outbreak since May has made more than 20,000 people sick in about 78 countries. The bulk of the deaths, however, have been in Africa, where monkeypox outbreaks have been happening for years, and where a more virulent strain of the virus is believed to be circulating. In all, more than 75 people are reported dead in Africa. Outside Africa, there have been only three deaths, not counting the Kerala death. The first monkeypox-related death outside the African continent was reported in Brazil on Friday (July 29). Also on Friday, there was a death in Spain’s Valencia region, and on Saturday, a patient died in the Andalusia region of the country. The two deaths in Spain are Europe’s first monkeypox-related deaths.
However, it is important to note that the victim in Brazil was a 41-year-old man who also suffered from lymphoma and a weakened immune system. “The comorbidities aggravated his condition,” Deutsche Welle (DW) quoted the government of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais as saying. The DW report also noted that both the patients in Spain had been hospitalised with infections that had attacked the brain in the days before their deaths, and that it is possible their deaths were linked to pre-existing conditions.
“There is a very low risk of death — less than 1 per cent. Even this estimate is based on data from Africa. So far, no deaths have been reported outside Africa in the multicountry outbreak, though the number of cases has been pretty high. Statistically, the case fatality ratio is very, very low,” Dr R Gangakhedkar, one of India’s most eminent epidemiologists, had told earlier this week (before the deaths in Brazil and Spain were reported).
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