eTravel now asks about rashes to prevent the spread of mpox

The Department of Health has updated the contents of the electronic travel form (e-Travel) to include a question about rashes, aiming to prevent the further spread of monkeypox or mpox.

In the form, the traveler is asked about their current physical condition. If they answer that they have been sick in the past 30 days, the drop-down list will now include the option: rashes, vesicles, or blisters. The traveler should mark it if the answer is affirmative.

Additionally, if the traveler came from a country listed by the World Health Organization as an outbreak area, or they have a history of exposure to an mpox case, or they have any signs/symptoms, “the etravel.gov.ph system will alert the Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration (BI), and the DOH BOQ."

“The passenger will be referred by BI to BOQ for secondary screening. If upon the assessment of BOQ personnel, a traveler is determined to be a suspect case, they will be cared for and properly conducted to an mpox referral hospital,” the DOH added.

DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa appealed to the public, particularly, those traveling from abroad and back to the country to be honest when filling out the form. He assured that if they are found to be positive, the government agency will treat them and might quarantine them.

“It’s an appeal to fellow Filipinos [in order to] to prevent the disease and bringing it here as ‘pasalubong’ to your family and relatives. Let’s be honest. You will not be imprisoned. We will treat you, and have you tested if you have (skin) lesions,” Herbosa earlier said.

“We might quarantine you. Quarantine means you are preventing the illness to come into the country. Isolation means you are positive (with mpox) and will be confined in an isolation room in a hospital,” he further explained.

Be ready for Clade lb variant

Meanwhile, DOH Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo alerted the public to be ready for the mpox Clade lb variant when it comes.

“We don’t have (mpox) Clade Ib here yet in the country. However, eventually, it will come. It’s just a matter of time,” said Domingo.

Domingo noted that the country is armed with necessary information about the viral disease.

“We are learning and getting used to what this (mpox) Clade II is all about. Our (health) system can handle it. Hopefully, we are able to manage it (Clade Ib) when that time comes,” Domingo said.

The Philippines now has a total number of 14 mpox cases since July 2022. Of those, nine have recovered, and five are "active cases waiting for symptoms to resolve."

Domingo said that the two recently discovered cases of mpox, case 13, a 26-year-old woman, and case 14, a 12-year-old boy, are both recovering at home. The two close contacts of case 13 are both asymptomatic and are being monitored, as with case 14's four close contacts.

The DOH said that all five new cases are classified as MPXV Clade II variants, a milder form of mpox with a reported mortality rate of less than 1% to 4%. This variant caused the 2022 mpox global outbreak.

The stronger variant is the MPXV Clade I, which is more likely to cause severe illness and death, especially in the immunocompromised. Mainly found in the Congo basin (Central Africa), it has been described in the 1980s as having a mortality rate ranging from 1 percent to 10 percent.

Mpox is a viral illness that can be spread through close contact with an infected person or through contaminated items. Common symptoms include skin rashes or sores, fever, headache, muscle pain, back pain, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes.

If you manage to get into close contact with a person suffering from the skin disease, dermatologist Lia Nebrida-Idea told PhilSTAR L!fe that the virus has an incubation period of about five to 21 days, but the manifestations of the symptoms would usually appear about six to 16 days following the exposure.

Once symptoms start to show, it's important to seek consultation from medical experts. (with reports from Rhodina J. Villanueva)