Monkeypox vaccine is available: Dr Coetzee

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The former chairperson of the South African Medical Association, Dr Angelique Coetzee, has confirmed that a vaccine is available for people who have been in close contact with people infected with monkeypox.

The Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla will this morning provide an update on the Mpox outbreak in the country in a media briefing in Pretoria.

South Africa has so far recorded four laboratory-confirmed cases – with three in KwaZulu-Natal and one in Gauteng.

Explaining the symptoms of the disease, Coetzee says, “After few days the rash starts where you feel like it’s very much like flu you know. I’ve got body aches and pains headaches and then I get these swollen lymph nodes in the groin… where you can have them then the lesion starts. It’s not all over the body, it can only be a few normally, it’ll be in the groin area or it can be in the hands or feet or in the mouth.”

PODCAST: Interview with Dr. Angelique Coetzee Monkeypox outbreak: