"We received a report regarding a patient who died at RSCM but not because of mpox," the Ministry's Director General of Disease Prevention and Control, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, confirmed in Jakarta on Thursday.
He remarked that the patient was confirmed positive for mpox, with a history of being HIV-positive.
Rondonuwu explained that the patient died due to ileus obstruction or intestinal blockage and was HIV-positive with a very low viral load and had never received antiretroviral drugs (ARV).
"The patient's mpox symptom was only skin lesions," he remarked.
Latest data from the Health Ministry regarding mpox cases in Indonesia as of November 22, 2023, totaled 57 cases, with 42 cases recorded in Jakarta, six each in Banten and West Java, two in East Java, and one case in Riau Islands.
Related news: Mpox cases detected in five provinces: Health Ministry
Of the total case count, 33 cases recovered, eight were suspected cases, while 191 others were discarded or not related to mpox based on sample tests in the laboratory.
Indonesia reported one case of mpox for the first time on August 20, 2022, and another one on October 13, 2023.
In a bid to suppress the spread of the disease, the Health Ministry provided 4,500 doses of mpox vaccine and 1,008 bottles of the tecovirimat antiviral arriving at the end of this month to treat mpox patients.
The DKI Jakarta Provincial Health Service had completed the process to administer the first dose of mpox vaccine to 495 recipients and started the second dose of the vaccination for the same number of individuals. In total, they disbursed one thousand doses of mpox vaccine for 495 people in two vaccination batches.
Related news: Health Minister urges people to practice safe sex to prevent mpox
Related news: Jakarta monkeypox cases mostly HIV positive: Official
Translator: Andi Firdaus, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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