A three-year-old child supposedly infected with monkeypox has tested negative for the disease.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said test results confirmed that the child was infected with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).
“The child was initially taken to a Health Clinic in Selangor after showing symptoms of fever on May 13 and rashes on May 16.
“The rashes then turned to blisters on May 19 and began to rupture on May 21.
“The initial diagnosis of this child was HFMD and monitoring was then conducted at Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
“Two samples were taken where the National Public Health Laboratory tested for several types of viruses including HFMD and monkeypox.
“The test results confirmed this child’s case was HFMD because the results were positive for Coxsackie Virus A6, and negative for monkeypox as well as other viruses,“ he said on his Facebook today.
On Tuesday (May 24), the Health Ministry said it had not been notified of any monkeypox cases involving a child, whose photo went viral on social media.
