Suspected monkeypox patient dies in Kerala: Health officials

A 22-year-old man, suspected to have contracted monkeypox, died in Kerala’s Thrissur district on Saturday, days after returning from high-risk UAE, officials said.

Health officials rushed samples of the deceased to the National Institute of Virology, regional centre in Alappuzha, for confirmation. They asked the family members of the deceased to cremate the body as per the WHO protocols, a senior health official said.

Doctors who treated the patient said the man’s symptoms were similar to monkeypox. “There were no red marks or blisters when he got admitted. But later such symptoms started appearing on his body,” one of the doctors said, requesting anonymity. “Since he came from the high-risk UAE, he was admitted to an isolation ward.”

Relatives of the deceased said he returned to the country from the UAE three days ago and was suffering from high fever. Later, red blisters appeared on his body raising serious doubts of monkeypox, they said.

A senior Union health ministry official said people should not panic till the man’s reports are out. “We should not jump the gun yet. Let his reports come back. From initial reports, he did not have full-blown monkeypox symptoms. So, there is a good chance that the report comes back negative,” the official said, requesting anonymity. “Of thousands of cases reported across the world, only five deaths have been reported from monkeypox so far.”

Meanwhile, a man from Kerala’s Kollam district, who was country’s first monkeypox patient, has recovered from the disease and discharged from the Government Medical College in state’s capital on Saturday, state health minister Veena George said. The second monekypox case in the country, reported from Kannur, was another returnee from the UAE.