Pakistan requests WHO for Mpox vaccine for critical patient with HIV infection

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has requested the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide monkeypox vaccine for a 40-year-old male patient who is also HIV positive and admitted in a public hospital in Islamabad in critical condition, an official revealed on Friday.

Monkeypox, or Mpox, is a zoonotic infection which can spread from animals to humans. The viral disease can also be contracted from one person to another and cause high fever and body pains.

Pakistan confirmed its first three cases of Mpox in April, with all three of the affected individuals arriving from abroad. They all later tested negative for the disease.

Officials at the public hospital in Islamabad are keeping the identity of the 40-year-old Mpox patient from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province secret since he is also HIV positive. In Pakistan, talking about HIV/AIDS is considered taboo and can lead to discrimination and social stigma.

“This patient is admitted in the hospital for over a month now, and he is in critical condition,” Dr. Nasim Akhtar, head of infectious diseases at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, told Arab News. “He is struggling for his life as the required drug is not available to treat him.”

Akhtar said the authorities had written to WHO officials for the antiviral medicines for the patient since it was “a unique case in a sense that he is infected with both Mpox and HIV at the same time.”

A recent research study revealed that Mpox can have a devasting impact on people with advanced cases of HIV, leading to “15 percent mortality in individuals with advanced HIV related disease characterized by CD4 [white blood cell] cell counts below 200 cells per mm3.” The mortality rate of the disease in normal patients was close to 0.2 percent globally.

The PIMS doctor said the patient’s health was deteriorating with each passing day, adding his chances of survival could increase if the hospital would get the required vaccine at the earliest.

“It has been over three weeks now since we wrote to the WHO for the vaccine, but we have not received it so far,” she continued, adding that all the paperwork required for to get the antiviral drug had been completed, but the international agency responsible for public health had yet to deliver it.

The WHO office in Pakistan did not respond to Arab News queries seeking an update on Islamabad’s request for the vaccine.

The goal of treating Mpox is to take care of the rash caused by the disease, manage pain and prevent related complications. Early and supportive care is important to help manage symptoms and avoid further problems, the WHO said in its advisory.

“Persons who have Mpox should be cared for away from other people,” it added. “Several antivirals, such as tecovirimat, originally developed to treat smallpox have been used to treat Mpox and further studies are underway.”

The most common symptoms of Mpox include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes, followed or accompanied by the development of a rash which may last for two to three weeks, according to the WHO.

Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, general secretary of the Pakistan Medical Association, said the HIV infection could destroy the patient’s immune system, adding his recovery would only be possible through timely and effective treatment.

“The government should take up the issue of Mpox vaccine acquisition at the highest level in WHO as this is a matter of a human life,” he told Arab News. “Just writing a letter to WHO for the vaccine does not absolve them of their responsibility.”