The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday designated the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa as the main isolation facility for suspect, probable, and confirmed monkeypox cases.
According to DOH Department Memorandum No. 2022-0220 Interim Technical Guidelines for the Implementation of Monkeypox Surveillance Screening, Management, and Infection Control, During the activation of Doors 1 and 2 of DOH’s 4-Door Alert System, “the RITM is hereby designated as the main isolation facility for suspect, probable, and confirmed monkeypox cases.”
The DOH added that the agency’s Field Implementation and Coordination Team and the One Hospital Command Center are working on the specific designation of isolation facilities.
“The priority now is to ensure compliance with requirements. We will be updating the public as the information comes in,” the DOH said.
Meanwhile, regional isolation facilities/hospitals catering to other international points of entry “shall be designated by the DOH Field Implementation and Coordination Team [FICT] and One Hospital Command Center [OHCC]; All Government hospitals shall prepare an area for isolation and treatment facilities in the event that Doors 3 and 4 are activated; Cases shall be immediately isolated in a private room, preferably with negative air pressure, until signs and symptoms have been resolved.”
Earlier, the DOH assured the public that no case of monkeypox has been detected yet in the country or in its territorial borders.
Monkeypox, a viral infection common in West and Central Africa, has been recorded in nearly 20 countries. It can spread from animals to humans and can also spread between people.
Symptoms of monkeypox typically include a fever, intense headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy level, swollen lymph nodes and a skin rash or lesions.