Despite the fact that this Thursday morning the Minister of Health of Costa Rica, Joselyn Chacón Madrigal, announced that the suspected case of monkeypox in the Central American country had been ruled out, the Panamanian Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre, assured that they remain vigilant through the Gorgas Commemorative Institute for Health Studies, and to date no suspected case has been identified in Panama.
According to Minister Chacón, after performing the test to rule out the disease, the patient reported last week as a suspected case of monkeypox in Costa Rica was found not to be a carrier.
Chacón, who is in Panama participating in the meeting of the Executive Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic (SE-COMISCA), explained that in approximately two weeks they will have the specific test that detects smallpox to be able to carry it out in Costa Rica.
Faced with this news, Minister Sucre stressed that they work together with PAHO and other countries to also have the specific test, “at this time the Gorgas Institute is trained to be able to diagnose if it is indeed this virus,” said the head of Portfolio.
Regarding COVID-19, he emphasized that the cases that are occurring are recombined cases, that is, that patients are being infected with two different variants of Omicron, for example, with BA.1 and BA.2.
Likewise, the Minister Counselor in Health matters, Eyra Ruiz, announced that in the next few days a new batch of pediatric vaccines will be arriving in Panama to continue without interruption the vaccination of minors throughout the national territory, and the medicines Molnupiravir and Paxlovid , which seek to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on patients with chronic diseases.
Writing by Nancy Pretto
