HCMC – The HCMC health authority will tighten the screening of those traveling to the city by air or sea to early detect suspected monkeypox cases, as part of the city’s coping plan amid the spike in monkeypox infections in many countries, especially in Asia.
Tang Chi Thuong, director of the municipal Department of Health, affirmed that the city has not detected any monkeypox case, but the health department urged all medical facilities citywide to take preventive measures.
The HCMC Center for Disease Control (HCDC) was told to monitor all passengers arriving through the city’s border gates, especially those who develop high body temperatures and acute rash. Medical workers will collect further information and check the health of suspected cases. People with epidemiological and clinical factors linked to the disease will be taken to the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases or general hospitals to be monitored.
HCDC has to provide guidance on prevention and control of monkeypox so that passengers with suspected monkeypox can contact medical workers at the airport and other border gates for support.
As for medical facilities across the city, they were asked to ramp up efforts to raise public awareness about monkeypox. Both public and private hospitals have to set up separate zones to receive probable cases of monkeypox.
The hospitals can send samples of suspected cases to the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the HCMC Pasteur Institute for confirmation, while awaiting the testing results, they have to request the suspected case to quarantine at hospitals or undergo home-quarantine if their accommodations meet the quarantine requirements.
