Man, 36, becomes first patient to die of Mpox in Thailand
A Thai man having HIV became the first patient in Thailand to die after being infected with the Mpox virus, formerly known as monkeypox, the Department of Disease Control (DDC) announced on Monday.
The department director-general, Dr Tharet Krutnairawiwong, said the 34-year-old patient died at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute on Friday.
Tharet said the patient, a resident of Chonburi province, was first hospitalised when he went to see a doctor at a private hospital on July 3 after he developed fever, a headache, rashes and blisters on many parts of his body.
On July 11, the hospital diagnosed him with possibly being infected with Mpox, so the hospital sent his samples for testing to the infectious diseases institute. The patient tested positive for the Mpox virus.
Doctors also found that the patient had HIV and syphilis and the patient also complained of sore throat.
After four weeks of treatment, the rashes were cured and the patient was discharged.
However, on August 9, the patient suffered from fatigue and experienced breathing difficulties so he was rushed back to the institute.
Doctors at the institute found that the rashes caused by Mpox had spread all over his body. The infection had spread to his lungs and brain and he had a low CD4 count of only 16. The normal CD4 count is from 500 to 1,400 cells per cubic millimetre of blood.
Doctors administered antibiotics and antiviral drugs to fight the Mpox virus, but he died on Friday night.
Tharet warned people in risk groups, especially homosexuals, not to have sex with strangers as they could catch the monkeypox virus easily.
As of August 8, there are 189 cases of Mpox in Thailand — 161 Thais and 28 foreigners.
Most of the patients were homosexual men and 82 of them also had HIV, Tharet added.
He said 152 people had died of Mpox in many countries since the spread started in Europe.
