Second confirmed death of patient with monkeypox
Sep 12, 2022, 4:03 PM
FILE - A health care worker prepares a monkeypox vaccine in Montreal, Saturday, July 23, 2022. Nearly 800,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine will soon be available for U.S. distribution, U.S. health regulators said Wednesday, July 27, 2022. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
(Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
SALT LAKE CITY — Two people have now died in the U.S. carrying the monkeypox virus, and an investigation continues into the role the illness played in their deaths.
The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the first case on Aug. 30, 2022. The patient was an immunocompromised adult according to a release from the department.
Following the first death, the LA County Department of Public Health confirmed in a media briefing on Facebook the second death of a patient with the illness. Officials at the briefing did not disclose if the patient had underlying medical conditions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there are 21,985 confirmed cases in the U.S. and 57,527 globally. Utah has 120 confirmed cases.
According to the CDC, certain factors may put a person at higher risk for catching monkeypox. Those risk factors include age (young children less than eight years of age,) pregnancy, being immunocompromised, and a history of atopic dermatitis or eczema.
The CDC also notes that even though you can catch the virus through intimate contact, monkeypox is not considered a sexually transmitted disease.
