[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] The second case of monkeypox infection has been reported in South Korea.
According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 3rd, a suspected monkeypox patient with systemic symptoms and skin lesions was reported on the afternoon of the 1st, and the final positive result was confirmed through genetic testing. This comes about two months after the first confirmed case of monkeypox in the country in mid-June.
The second confirmed patient is a Korean national who visited Europe and entered the country on the 18th of last month (asymptomatic at the time). Symptoms began to appear ten days after returning, on the 28th of the same month, starting with fever, headache, and dizziness, and on the 30th, due to localized pain, the patient visited a hospital in Seoul.
Subsequently, on the 1st, the patient personally contacted the public health center and was identified. Afterward, an epidemiologist from Seoul classified the patient as a suspected case and conducted genetic testing.
The Disease Control Headquarters plans to transfer the patient to the National Medical Center on the same day, monitor the progress, and conduct an in-depth epidemiological investigation to identify additional contacts.
Additionally, they will track the movements of the confirmed patient during the infectious period and classify and manage contacts based on exposure risk levels. In particular, for contacts classified as medium risk or higher, they will assess willingness to receive vaccination and proceed with vaccination upon request.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency explained that the confirmed patient has no history of monkeypox vaccination, is currently hospitalized, and is in mild condition with an overall good state.
Previously, the first confirmed monkeypox case in South Korea, reported in June, was a Korean national who entered from Germany. The patient voluntarily reported symptoms during the entry process and was transferred to Incheon Medical Center, a nationally designated inpatient treatment facility, where they underwent 15 days of isolation treatment before being discharged.
At that time, 49 passengers who were on the same flight were classified as contacts (8 medium risk, 41 low risk), but none reported suspicious symptoms during the 21-day monitoring period, and no additional confirmed cases occurred afterward.
However, unlike the first confirmed patient who reported symptoms during entry, this second patient was asymptomatic upon entry and lived daily life for about ten days, so the number of contacts may be higher, and there may be close contacts.
Since the first confirmed case, the health authorities have taken measures to enable diagnostic testing for monkeypox at 17 public health and environment research institutes nationwide to prevent the spread of monkeypox.
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