Peru confirms first monkeypox-related death

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The Health Ministry of Peru announced the first death of a monkeypox-infected patient in the country. Since its first confirmed case on June 26, Peru has registered 275 infections and stands as the second-highest case count in Latin America behind Brazil.

Officially, the Peruvian patient died of respiratory issues, acute kidney failure, and septic shock. The 41-year-old man was HIV-positive and suffered from tuberculosis. He had abandoned his antiretroviral treatment. While his various complications aggravated his monkeypox infection, the virus was considered by health officials as only an additional factor in his death.

This virus-related death comes only a few days after the passing of another 41-year-old man from the disease in Brazil, the first instance of a fatal case of monkeypox outside of Africa. The case was quickly followed by a death in Spain and later by one in India.

The World Health Organization on July 23 declared monkeypox a public health emergency.

In Brazil, the Health Ministry announced the purchase of 50,000 vaccines to combat the monkeypox outbreak in the country, adding that shipments would only arrive in September and November. The Brazilian Report‘s Brasília correspondent Cedê Silva found that so far no request has been made to the federal health regulatory agency for the vaccine’s authorization.