Mpox cases climb in SA

Africa Melane speaks to Health Department spokesperson Foster Mohale as South Africa sees a rise in confirmed Mpox cases. With new infections reported in Gauteng and the Western Cape, Mohale outlines the department’s response, including a targeted vaccination campaign and public health advice.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know there's seven Africa Milanian daily breakfast.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
At twelve minutes and ideas past five o'clock Rowan who
was very efficient and first and are highly very responsive
because it's now on the line National spokesperson for the
National Department of Health talking to us, of course about
the two confirmed cases of empos one in Cape Town,
one in Johannesburg, bringing the communative number of confirmed cases
since the beginning of the year to ten faster. This

(00:27):
must be worrying the department, Is it not good morning.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
Good one Africa and one to your listeners and fans
for this opportunity. Yes, sir, this is the worrying, especially
after we spent some months without confirming a single case
of empox. But we understand because even the neighboring some
neighboring countries like Mozambique the thirteen to recording the cases

(00:53):
of empox. And as the Department of Health, working with
the number of stakeholders, we're going to roll out vaccination
for impots, just like we did with COVID nineteen. So
we want to want more appeal to members of the
public to remain vigilant of symptoms so that anyone who
suspect that they might have contacted this preventable and manageable disease,

(01:18):
they should go to the weirder self cape provider for
skill and.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Tasty reports indicating that neither of the two individuals who
have recently confirmed empaks through their ability testing had traveled.
Is it a possibility then that they Obviously, I suppose
it only concludes them that they are acquieted here in
South Africa kept having enjol bird. Do we have any

(01:44):
idea who they could have picked up from.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yeah, this is exactly what we are trying to establish
through our surveillance and contract to tasting. So that tells
us that the cases might be more especially if these
two patients say they've been traveled outside the country, especially
to the countries or regions where they're currently dealing with
the outbreak of empoks or factors, as maybe they came

(02:10):
into contact with somebody who traveled to these areas where
they the outbreak of empos who has not come forward.
So hence we say the only way we can disrupt
the spread of this disease is for anyone who experienced
the symptoms of disease they should go to the nearer
self care facility for screening and testing in order to

(02:32):
know the health status. And the good thing about it
now is that anyone who tests positive, or who suspected
that they might have contacted the disease, or who came
into contact with someone who tested positive, we will prioritize
them with this vaccine.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
My understanding is that you're going to be running out
a vaccination program, obviously targeting the most affected provinces, which
are currently how Tang was in Cape and gozlinatime. But
I imagine you've got a limited supply of the vaccine,
don't you.

Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeah, for now, we've got the limited supply of vaccines,
but we are likely going to get more so based
on the appetite of South Africans. On the current doses
so far, we've got about ten thousand first hundred doses,
but based on the appetite, we can't get more. But
we don't want to start with the higher quantity of
doses to avoid a wastage. You remember, during the time

(03:27):
of COVID nineteen, we continue to procure more vaccines, but
people the appetite among Africans became low so and we
lost a lot of vaccines that we spend a lot
of money on it through a waste stage and expire.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
So we lend.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Lessons from Covert nineteen the vaccination program, So we want
to ensure that those lessons we use them during the
vaccination of empocs.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
So how's it going to roll out then?

Speaker 1 (03:52):
Faster?

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Is it a case of I might suspect that I've
been perhaps exposed to empacs and therefore I approach a
health care facility and ask for a dosage or are
you going to through your own models, identify which communities
are mostly to be at risk of acquiring empaks and
therefore take those doses of vaccinations there Yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
No, already there are health facilities in the certain districts.
Especially we know the districts which experience these cases of empocs.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
So we paraitize those districts.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
But this does not mean if you are residing in
a district where EMPs the cases were not detected, you
will not be eligible to empok. So based on the
screaming and testing and interaction with the health care provider,
if they ask you a number of questions for example,
ever be in contact with somebody who tested positive?

Speaker 1 (04:51):
Ever for healthcare work just as well.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
Have ever treated patients who tested the positive for EMPOS.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
So those are some of the questions that.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
May need to your eligibility to get this empox vaccine.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
This was the case when we were talking about the
vaccine for COVID nineteen. Now the very first message that
has come in is stop encouraging any vaccinations Africa. How
would you, as the National Department of Health respond to
a South African who shares that view.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yeah, no, definitely a South Africans. We say, of course
we are dealing with the anti vaccines. Of course some
of them they are driven by business or whatever residents.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
We say, we are here.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
As the Department of Health working with the number of
stakeho just like a welded organization to save the lives
of our people. And we remember during the time of
during the peak of COVID nineteen, some of the leading
anti vassas groups they vaccinated themselves, so they were just
misleading their followers. So we say the vaccine is here,

(05:55):
is a life saving vaccine. South Africans come forward to
see if lies because it's is here. We're dealing with
a less severe, a kind of a variant of empoks,
unlike in other parts of the continent and the world
where they're dealing with the most severe type of a
variant of empoks. So we say we can prevent the

(06:17):
worst situation like we've experienced during the time of COVID night.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
So ignore those who are.

Speaker 3 (06:23):
Against the vaccination. We are here to save your life.
Vaccine is year, so there's no reason for someone to fall. See,
there's no reason for someone to die while we've got
their vaccination.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
It's also important to I suppose, dispel any fear mongering.
There'll be somebody listening to us this morning going, oh,
I had an h yesterday. It doesn't mean that you
have empacs. What symptoms are we looking for before we
need to approach a healthcare facility or professional.

Speaker 3 (06:54):
Yeah, the symptoms of empoks, most of them there are common.
They're not different from symptoms of other health conditions. For example,
someone may develop rash, someone may experience fever, your sore throat,
your headache, your muscle pains or big pain, or your
solen nose, or low energy. You feel that you're donne energy.

(07:16):
So but these are symptoms that are similar to other diseases.
So and so we say South African instead of a
self tricking yourself self diagnosing yourself. Please just go to
the nearest healthcare facility, private or public, so that they
can be able to screen and test and establish.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
Or diagnose you. Maybe may it may not be empox,
can be other health conditions.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
Then they give you the right treatment for the right disease.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
Do you need to have a combination of all of
those or if you are a manifesting one or two
of those, is it enough for a listener to be
concerned enough to go and get seen to buy a
healthcare professional.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
No, even if it's one or two. As long as
this they last for two to three weeks at least
because some of the symptoms we find that it is
because of what you have eaten and maybe a day
or two days a prior. So we say, if you
experience any of these symptoms that last for at least
two to three weeks without disappearing, even while you try

(08:17):
to take any form of medication, please just go to
the near self care facility so that they can clean
you and test you and be able to diagnose you
for and give you the right treatment.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
For the right a disease.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
And it is an important thing to highlight, I imagine
then faster that the majority of the cases will be
mild and resolve on their own. So you might not
feel like you know your life is counting days and
therefore I need to go see a doctor. You might
actually have a mild version of it, and if you
think you do, it's still important for you to go

(08:50):
visit a healthcare professional, is it.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Not, Definitely, especially those were at a higher risk. Those
we talk about the present mom, we talk about the
young children, We talk about those who are living with
other commobilities like HIV, TV diabetes, because the immune system
is already compromised, meaning that the chances of them experiencing

(09:12):
sedial health complications are high. So don't wait until you
experience severe health complications before you go to the nearrative
health care provider or a doctor or a clinic or hospital.
So it's up to you. But we encourage people to
say if we really suspect or you know that you
came into contact with the Africa who tested positive, and

(09:33):
also want to encourage those who test positive to incoperate
with our healthcare officials when they conduct what to call
contact tracing so that we can try to stop the
spread of this disease within the community, within the families,
within the circles of people.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
All right, thank you very much for availing yourself at
such a short notice. I imagine it's going to be
a very busy day for you. First, Mohale, national sportsperson
for the Department of talking to us about the two
new cases that have been confirmed of impox These have
been confirmed through labarge chest a thirty two years old

(10:09):
and a forty five year old patient from Cape Town
and in Johannesburg, bringing the total cumulative number of confirmed
cases to ten since the beginning of the year.