BRASILIA, Aug 2 (NNN-Xinhua) — Brazil plans to use the antiviral drug Tecovirimat to treat severe cases of monkeypox, which has already claimed one life in the country, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said.
“The most serious cases will be taken into account first,” Queiroga said via Twitter, adding Brazil will receive the drug thanks to mediation by the Pan American Health Organization, but did not specify how many doses will be supplied.
Tecovirimat is being used as a “compassionate care” option in the United States. Its efficacy in combating monkeypox has yet to be proven.
On Friday, health officials confirmed the first monkeypox-related death in Brazil, involving a 41-year-old man whose case is still being investigated.
According to the latest data released by the Brazilian government, the South American country has detected at least 1,342 cases of the disease.
MONTEVIDEO: Uruguay will begin a vaccination campaign against monkeypox aimed “specifically” at those who have been exposed to the virus, Minister of Public Health Daniel Salinas said.
The country will request between 6,000 and 7,000 vaccine doses of the third-generation inactivated virus, which are expected to arrive by the end of October or early November, he said.
“It will be administered to specific laboratory personnel pre-exposure and in the first four days post-exposure, when there has been very close contact, particularly with lesions,” Salinas said.
In contrast to COVID-19 transmission, monkeypox requires “very close contact,” the minister said, assuring the population that the disease “is not like the coronavirus” and has lower fatality levels.
The South American country confirmed its first monkeypox case on Friday in the capital Montevideo in a patient, who was stable and in isolation, with a history of recent travel abroad. — NNN-XINHUA
