One of 21 patients being treated for monkey pox in Bayelsa killed himself on Monday, health officials in Bayelsa have said.
The unnamed patient was recovering from the disease at an isolation unit at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital.
Bayelsa health commissioner Ebitimitula Etebu insists the patient did not die of monkey pox.
But officials are investigating his past and recent clinical, social and family history for possible signs of mental ill health or personal family problem that might have driven him to suicide.
3 out of 17
Only three cases among 17 initially suspected in Bayelsa have tested positive for monkey pox at the World Health Organisation’s regional laboratory in Dakar, Senegal, health minister Isaac Adewole said on Monday.
“Samples from 12 others from Bayelsa were negative, and we are awaiting two results,” said Adewole.
Suspected cases have risen to 43 across the country, reported in eight states— Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ekiti, Lagos, Enugu, Nasarawa, Rivers, and FCT.
Officials have maintained a high level of suspicion, and authorities have set up quarantine units ahead of possible infection, but not all suspected cases are expected to be positive.
Four of the reported infections in Lagos have tested negative for monkey pox virus.
“We expect that many of these cases being reported from other states in Nigeria are not caused by the Monkeypox virus, but we will continue to investigate all those cases that fit the case definition,” said Adewole.
“Further laboratory tests using whole genome sequencing are being carried out by the Africa Centre for Genomics and Infectious Diseases in Redeemers University Ede, Ogun State.
“It is important to note that there has been no confirmation of Monkeypox in any other part of the country, and it is likely that many of the other cases being reported are not caused by the monkey pox virus. Nigerians should continue to be vigilant at all times,” he noted.
Cosmetic trouble
Monkey pox has low fatality rate. None suspected to be infected with the disease has died from it so far.
But the rash that comes with the disease has many panicked. It is fear for the sight of the rash that’s turned people to read about it—and turned others away from it entirely.
“There is no serious aftermath apart from one, and it is aesthetic,” says Chikwe Ihekweazu, chief executive officer at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
“You stay with the scars of the rash for quite a while. If you are a child, it is most likely they will disappear with time. As an adult it is a little bit more tricky. So the biggest challenge is the appearance problem, so it is something we have to take very serious, because it leads to stigma. We have to support patients, assure them that even if there is some scarring on their faces, there is no long-standing physical outcome to worry about.”
