A traveler landing Sunday at Sao Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport tested negative for mpox but positive for chickenpox, Agência Brasil reported Tuesday citing data from the São Paulo Health Department. The patient is fine, he is under observation. The case was ruled out for mpox and confirmed for chickenpox after an examination by the Adolfo Lutz Institute.
It is important to note that the patient does not come from mpox endemic areas and that the care of patients with suspicion or disease diagnosis has been part of the institute's routine since 2022, the government agency said in a statement after issuing an epidemiological mpox alert last Friday. The secretariat emphasizes that it is attentive to the epidemiological scenario and that all state health units already have technical recommendations for monitoring and following up the disease, it added. The document also highlighted that mpox transmission between humans occurs mainly through intimate contact with lesions on the skin or mucous membranes of infected people.
The main symptoms of the disease are fever, weakness, swollen lymph nodes, muscle pain, back pain, headache, sore throat, nasal congestion, and cough. Meanwhile, Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) renewed the registration exemption for the Jynneos vaccine and the Imvanex vaccine purchased by the Federal Health Ministry to prevent mpox. Anvisa's decision was published Tuesday in the Diário Official da Uniao (Official Gazet.