Brazil: São Paulo state launches health plan to combat monkeypox

The Brazilian state of São Paulo (southeast), the most populated and most affected in the South American country by the advance of monkeypox, launched on August 4, a network to combat the disease.

This strategy includes specific health surveillance, as well as the cooperation of 93 hospitals and maternity hospitals.

“We have launched important guidelines to assist the entire health network and the population, preventing severe forms of the disease and transmission,” said São Paulo’s Secretary of Health, Jean Gorinchteyn, at a press conference.

According to the announcement, the announced care network will be coordinated by the Emilio Ribas Institute of Infectious Diseases, one of the largest centers for treating infectious diseases in Latin America.

Brazil has confirmed 1,369 cases of monkeypox in its territory, of which around 75% correspond to the state of São Paulo, the most populated in the country with 46 million inhabitants, according to data from the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

The plan to deal with the disease includes 93 hospitals and maternity wards, which will intervene in the most severe cases requiring special isolation or intensive care.

The São Paulo health authorities also presented a special protocol for pregnant women, who, if diagnosed with the disease, will have to be taken to a highly specialized health unit for complicated deliveries.

The Secretary of Science, Research and Development in Health of São Paulo, David Uip, said that the action is based on “the experience” acquired during the pandemic of the new coronavirus.

Uip explained that there would be an epidemiological follow-up with the Adolfo Lutz Institute, a Brazilian reference in public laboratories, as a pillar.

Likewise, the guidelines formulated for each country by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) will be extended to all health centers concerning the training of health professionals in the care of the public for monkeypox.

With information from Xinhua