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Philippines eyes procuring monkeypox vaccine, antivirals

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Gillan Ropero, ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — The Department of Health said Friday it was eyeing procuring antivirals and vaccines against monkeypox.</p><p>Monkeypox vaccination is not yet included in the Philippines&#x27; National Immunization Program, the health agency said in a statement. </p><p>The DOH said it was &quot;exploring all possible available sources and expedient legal methods for the procurement of Monkeypox vaccine.&quot; </p><p>It said a vaccine has been developed but was &quot;not yet widely available.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/24/22/doh-says-ready-to-detect-contain-monkeypox">What is monkeypox? DOH says ready to detect, contain disease</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/05/23/22/monkeypox-case-fatality-rate-higher-than-covid-in-ph-adviser">Monkeypox case fatality rate higher than COVID in PH: adviser</a></li></ul><p>Consultations and review must be held with expert groups and development partners in terms of vaccination and priority population groups, the agency added.</p><p>&quot;At present, the DOH is preparing supply chains and logistics services. There are ongoing internal discussions, based on scientific evidence, for the possible acquisition of antivirals in the event of an outbreak or severe cases,&quot; the statement read.</p><p>There are no specific antiviral drugs for monkeypox and its management is symptomatic, according to Dr. Marissa Alejandria, member of the DOH-technical advisory group on infectious diseases.</p><p>The disease is transmitted through unprotected contact via respiratory droplets, and has an incubation period of 5 to 21 days, Alejandria said. Symptoms usually include fever, enlarged lymph nodes, headache, chills, sore throat, malaise, and fatigue, she added.</p><p>The health agency said it was also coordinating with the Philippine Genome Center and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for the surveillance of monkeypox through RT-PCR testing.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/26/22/doh-wala-pang-rt-pcr-ang-bansa-para-sa-monkeypox">DOH sinabing wala pang RT-PCR ang bansa para sa monkeypox</a></li></ul><p>Meanwhile, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said practices for curbing COVID-19 would also work against monkeypox, including physical distancing, masking up, frequent handwashing, and ensuring proper ventilation. </p><p>“Be assured that the DOH is working hand-in-hand with all our preparations should the monkeypox virus enter the country,” she said in a televised public briefing. </p><p>The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in an update on Thursday that although the number of cases has risen fivefold since a week ago, the risk of contagion remains &quot;very low&quot;.</p><p>Endemic in several west and central African nations, monkeypox cases have now been detected in nearly 20 other countries around the world, including the United States, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and 11 EU countries.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/05/26/22/more-than-200-cases-of-monkeypox-worldwide-eu-agency">More than 200 cases of monkeypox worldwide: EU disease agency</a></li></ul><div><strong>— With reports from Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN News; Agence France-Presse </strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2044424" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The Department of Health said Friday it was eyeing procuring antivirals and vaccines against monkeypox.

Philippines eyes procuring monkeypox vaccine, antivirals

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Philippines eyes procuring monkeypox vaccine, antivirals

Gillan Ropero,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 27, 2022 04:48 PM PHT

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Updated May 27, 2022 07:14 PM PHT

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monkeypox antiviral drugs

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