As Monkeypox cases continue to spread globally, Guyana remains vigilant and is putting systems in place in the event of the disease being recorded locally.
Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony during the sidelines of an event on Wednesday told reporters that there were two suspected cases of this disease; however, the tests returned negative.
“We probably may have had maybe one or two suspected cases and when we did all the analysis, ran all the tests it was something else, it wasn’t monkeypox,” Dr. Anthony said.
In the meantime, the Health Ministry is in the process of procuring vaccines through a mechanism with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), which will allow the government to procure the vaccines at a cheaper price.
“We are now awaiting when that purchase would be made so that we can access vaccines through that mechanism. So that’s where we are, all the paperwork we have completed, it’s just a matter of time before we get those vaccines.”
Although there were two suspected cases, Dr. Anthony has made it clear that there are no confirmed Monkeypox cases in the country.
“You have to understand right now we don’t have any cases, we have remained alert, but we just wanna have these vaccines just in case.”
Health officials have been alerted to be on the lookout for signs and symptoms of the virus. A special team of infectious disease specialists and dermatologists is established to respond to physicians who may suspect signs and symptoms on a person.
Laboratory Technicians received training by PAHO in Jamaica to conduct PCR testing and treatment of the disease.
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