By: Natasha Archary

The Department of Health (DoH) has confirmed that the Grade 1 learner from Hammanskraal has tested negative for Mpox, which is also known as Monkeypox.
This after the Department of Education (DoE) announced on Thursday, 18 July that a female learner from Iketleng Primary School in Hammanskraal received a diagnosis for Mpox.
Her parents informed the school that their daughter has been hospitalized after showing signs of the illness.
This prompted the DoE to release a statement regarding the case, which had to be retracted because any confirmed cases regarding outbreaks have to be made by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the DoH.
Following the retraction, the DoH collected samples from the Grade 1 learner which were tested at the NICD labs.
On Sunday, 21 July the DoH annouced that the learner’s results were negative for the viral disease.
“The Department of Health would like to announce that the grade one learner from Hammanskraal who was a suspected case of mpox has tested negative for this viral disease. This follows the decision by the Department last week to collect samples for laboratory testing at the National Institute for Communicable Disease.
The public is urged to report to a healthcare facility when they experience any suspicious symptoms related to mpox, instead of self-diagnosing and isolating without laboratory confirmation.”
No new cases of Mpox have been recorded in the past week, but the public is cautioned that this does not mean that they should lower their guard.
Mpox may re-emerge once severe cases present and symptoms include an acute illness characterised by fever and general flu-like symptoms, followed by the eruption of a blister-like rash on the skin.
While most people recover, some get very sick and South Africa has reported 20 cases with 3 deaths to date.
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