Will examine reasons for death of suspected monkeypox patient, says Kerala health minister | India News

NEW DELHI: Kerala health minister Veena George on Sunday said they will probe the reasons behind the death of a 22-year-old young man who recently returned from UAE and allegedly died due to monkeypox on Saturday.
Swab samples of the deceased have been sent to the National Institute of Virology unit at Alappuzha and the reports is awaited, said state health authorities.

The minister said that the patient was young, did not suffer from any other illness or health problems and therefore, the health department was looking into the cause of his death. “This particular variant of monkeypox is not as highly virulent or contagious like Covid-19, but it does spread. Comparatively, the mortality rate of this variant is low. Therefore, we will examine why the 22-year-old man died in this particular case as he had no other illness or health problems,” the minister said.
The man had returned from the UAE on July 21, and had no external symptoms commonly associated with monkeypox.
He was admitted to a hospital in the city on July 27.
According to WHO, monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals), with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and subsequent cessation of smallpox vaccination, monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus for public health.
(With inputs from agencies)