Some 11 cases of monkey or monkeypox have been confirmed in Panama to date, of which 4 could be carriers of HIV, as announced by the infectologist and head of the Research Department of the Children’s Hospital, Xavier Sáez Llorens .
This doctor’s argument is based on the fact that 40% of the cases that have been documented in the world are of people living with HIV. “Of the 50,000 cases that have been registered, at least 20,000 are also infected with HIV,” he added.
He pointed out that usually people with HIV who suffer from a more severe disease of smallpox are those who do not have good control of their disease or infection, those who do take their HIV medications daily, and are controlled and have their defenses in good condition, does not suffer from smallpox disease aggressively.
In that sense, Sáez Llorens urged people in Panama who are HIV carriers to take their medications so that in case of infection, monkeypox does not worsen or there is possible lethality.
The doctor clarified that in the country it will not be known exactly how many people carry HIV and have contracted smallpox, since that information is handled confidentially by the Ministry of Health, in order to avoid stigma or discrimination.
