The minister of Public healthVictor Elias Atallah Lajam, denied this Wednesday that the case of a man who has generated alarm among the population of the El Jobo community, in the Padre Las Casas municipality, Azua province, is a crime monkeypox (mpox), as reported in the media.
According to the official when asked by journalists about the subject, what the 42-year-old Haitian citizen presents in the area of the cheekbone and neck is herpes zoster or “shingles.”
“That is an ill-founded, sensationalist statement; I will say it clearly. This is a case that is being handled, and we made it clear that it was shingles.”said the doctor.
The Minister of Health also called on the national press to “be a little more responsible” with regard to the information it disseminates about monkeypox.
«The press has an important role in this. When you report that there is a case of monkeypox in the press, what will happen? International organizations will say that there is monkeypox here, when there is not, and tourism is affected. Therefore, We have to be a little more responsible “in that regard,” said Atallah Lajam.
What is herpes zoster or “shingles”?
According to the Mayo Clinic, shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful rash. Shingles They can appear anywhere on the bodyIt usually looks like a single band of blisters that wraps around the left or right side of the torso.
The cause of shingles is varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. After you get chickenpox, the virus stays in your body for life. Years later, the virus can reactivate as shingles.
Shingles is not life-threatening. However, it can be very painful. Vaccines can help reduce the risk of developing shingles. Early treatment can shorten a shingles infection and decrease the chance of complications. The most common complication is postherpetic neuralgia. This is a painful condition that causes shingles to hurt for a long time after the blisters have gone away.
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