Suspected monkeypox patient, who returned from UAE, dies in Kerala hospital

Thrissur, July 31: In a suspected case of monekypox infection, a 22-year-old man died at a private hospital in Kerala’s Thrissur on Saturday, days after returning from high-risk UAE.

The health officials have sent the samples of the deceased to the National Institute of Virology at Alappuzha, for confirmation. The family members of the deceased have been asked to cremate the body as per the WHO protocols.

According to the doctors, the patient was having symptoms similar to that in 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 reportedly said.

Since the patient had come from the high-risk UAE, he was admitted to an isolation ward. He was suspected of being hit with tuberculosis and was sent into isolation at a hospital as tests were carried out.

The relatives said that the man had returned from the UAE three days ago and was suffering from high fever. However, red blisters started appearing on his body raising doubts of monkeypox.

The health officials, meanwhile, said that people should not panic unless the deceased reports are out.

As per the initial reports, the man didn’t have full-blown monkeypox symptoms. So, there are chances that the report may come back negative.

“Of thousands of cases reported across the world, only five deaths have been reported from monkeypox so far,” an official said.

Will examine 

Will examine the reasons behind the death of a 22-year-old young man who recently returned from UAE and allegedly died due to monkeypox a day ago, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Sunday.

With the swab results of the deceased patient yet to be reported, the health 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.

She said they will also be examining why there was delay in his hospitalisation after he arrived here from UAE on July 21. "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 told media.

Since this variant of monkeypox does spread, therefore, all necessary measures have to be taken and have been taken to prevent the same, she added. The minister also said that there were no studies available about this particular variant from other countries where the disease has been detected and thus, Kerala was carrying out a study on it.