First monkeypox patient dies in Pakistan

A 40-year-old patient under treatment at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital Islamabad died of monkeypox.

According to the Ministry of Health, the deceased patient was suffering from monkeypox and HIV. The person suffering from monkeypox had returned to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia.

Officials said that the deceased person was under treatment for the last one and a half months. The monkeypox patient died on Sunday at PIMS Hospital.

What is monkeypox?

Mpox is a rare disease caused by the mpox virus. This virus usually affects rodents, such as rats or mice, or nonhuman primates, such as monkeys. But it can occur in people.

Mpox usually occurs in Central and West Africa. Cases outside of Africa are often due to:

• International travel.
• Imported animals.
• Close contact with an animal or person with mpox.

Starting in 2022, mpox cases were reported in countries that don’t often have mpox, such as the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to monitor cases that have been reported throughout the world, including Europe and the United States.

Mpox symptoms may start 3 to 17 days after you’re exposed. The time between when you’re exposed and when you have symptoms is called the incubation period.

Mpox symptoms last 2 to 4 weeks and may include:

• Fever.
• Skin rash.
• Swollen lymph nodes.
• Headache.
• Muscle aches and backaches.
• Chills.
• Tiredness.

About 1 to 4 days after you begin having a fever, a skin rash starts.

The mpox rash often first appears on the face, hands or feet and then spreads to other parts of the body. But in cases linked to the outbreak that started in 2022, the rash often started in the genital area, mouth, or throat. The mpox rash goes through many stages. Flat spots turn into blisters. Then the blisters fill with pus, scab over and fall off over 2 to 4 weeks.

You can spread mpox while you have symptoms. So from when your symptoms start until your rash and scabs heal.

Treatment for most people with mpox is aimed at relieving symptoms. Care may include managing skin damage from the mpox rash, drinking enough liquids to help keep stool soft, and pain management.