First death of monkeypox in Costa Rica confirmed

QCOSTARICA – The Ministry of Health confirmed this Friday the first death in Costa Rica of a patient with monkeypox or viruela simica in Spanish.

By Howler Magazine

A hospital center reported the death of a person who was hospitalized with a history of various underlying pathologies, among which he had received a diagnosis of monkeypox 19 days before death. The health center is awaiting the autopsy.

The patient was a 30-year-old Costa Rican man who had been hospitalized. The Ministry of Health did not specify the medical center. The event was recorded in epidemiological week number 8, that is, between February 19 and 25.

Since the beginning of the outbreaks in Europe and North America, however, specialists have pointed out the low lethality of the disease.

In Costa Rica, the first case of monkey or monkeypox was detected in June 2022. Since then, Health reported, 373 cases have been investigated, of which 198 have been confirmed.

“Laboratory-confirmed cases are characterized by being mostly male with an average age of 33 years,” it said.

On the list of those affected, there are five women and until February 27, three minors (two adolescents and a four-month-old baby).

Of the total cases, 7% are foreigners. 55.6% of confirmed cases have a history of pathologies that compromise the immune system. Health did not give references on the remaining cases. The majority of cases are in the Central Valley, mainly in San José and Heredia.

The most common symptoms are skin lesions similar to pimples or blisters (painful or itchy), appearing anywhere on the body, but more frequently on the genital, perianal, face, hands, and feet regions.

There may also be fever, chills, swollen glands, exhaustion, muscle aches, back pain, and headache, as well as respiratory symptoms (eg, sore throat, stuffy nose, or cough).

Link from Howler Magazine:

https://howlermag.com/2023/03/first-death-of-monkeypox-in-costa-rica-confirmed/