First infant battling mpox dies in Karachi hospital

An infant boy battling mpox for more than a week at a hospital died early on Saturday morning — the first mortality of a baby from the contagious viral infection in Karachi. Prof Faisal Mahmood, senior infectious disease specialist at the Aga Khan University Hospital, says that mpox can spread through the air to a limited extent, but only when lesions or material from lesions are aerosolised. “This may happen when a sample is taken or when lesions are in or around the airway. Compared with chickenpox, mpox is much less contagious. Chickenpox can spread through the air over a considerable distance and does not require direct contact. The same applies to measles,” he said. He further added: “Mpox outbreaks can occur where infection prevention and control measures, such as environmental cleaning, are suboptimal, or where people are in close quarters or have significant body-to-body contact.”