kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram says anyone the Ministry of Health confirms with the Monkeypox virus will have to quarantine for 21 days.
Speaking at the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 media conference on Wednesday, Parasram said based on the known characteristics, there is an incubation period of five to 21 days. Therefore, the recommended quarantine period is approximately 21 days.
Parasram said the ministry’s protocol for close contact of a confirmed Monkeypox case is self-isolation at home, a practice used worldwide.
The ministry will isolate any cases picked up at a port of entry at its facilities, to prevent them from spreading the disease to the population.
However, the County Medical Officers of Health have discretion in determining the isolation requirements.
As for the treatment of Monkeypox, Parasram said doctors will tend to the various symptoms patients exhibit.
However, he said the ministry was continuing bilateral talks to acquire an antiviral drug that is becoming available.
“In terms of the treatment, generally speaking, it is symptomatic relief, so we use medication to control the fever. For example, making sure persons are well hydrated. If you reach the stage of encephalitis, of course, supportive care in hospital is required, for which we have the capacity at Caura, which is the designated facility at this point,” Parasram said.
Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh said the ministry had already designated the Caura Hospital to treat Monkeypox patients.
Deyalsingh said there will be no mixing of COVID-19 and Monkeypox patients at any facility.
He said he had spoken to Tobago House of Assembly Secretary of the Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection Dr Faith B. Yisrael to dedicate a facility suitable to quarantine Monkeypox patients if health officials detect a case on the island.
Deyalsingh said there was no consideration of travel restrictions currently.
The ministry convened a meeting with the Caribbean Public Health Agency and the Pan American Health Organization on May 30 to discuss T&T’s response to the global spread of Monkeypox.
Deyalsingh said the ministry saw it as a threat the country needed to prepare for and did not want to wait until finding a suspected or confirmed case before launching a response.
The ministry started preparation on May 20 by seeking Cabinet approval to have Monkeypox listed as a dangerous infectious disease, which allows the Government to use the Quarantine Act and Public Health Regulation to implement measures to protect the public.
Deyalsingh said the ministry simultaneously started building capacity for testing and training on epidemiological surveillance and raising awareness.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Monkeypox a global health emergency on July 23, recommending that countries strengthen a coordinated international response to slow transmission and protect vulnerable groups.
Deyalsingh said based on WHO recommendations, countries fell into various groups. T&T falls into Group 1: countries with no history of Monkeypox in the human population or which did not detect a case for over 21 days.
He said Group 1 members have nine action items from to implement.
He said the ministry wisely implemented all nine action items, establishing health and multi-sectoral mechanisms, no stigmatisation and discrimination policies, and intensified epidemiological disease surveillance and detection capabilities.
Testing is available at CARPHA and Trinidad Public Health Laboratory.
“We are as in a good place as any based on WHO’s Group 1 recommendations. Then you move on to Group 2. We are not in Group 2 as yet,” he noted.
Group 2 includes states or parties with recently imported cases of Monkeypox in the human population or otherwise experiencing human-human transmission of Monkeypox virus, including in key population groups and communities at high risk of exposure..