The current outbreak of monkey poxcon at least 92 cases in 12 non-endemic countriesis the first to occur in several places at the same time and in which those infected are not linked to trips to Africa, experts from the World Health Organization (OMS).
“There have been cases in the last five years in people who came from Africa, but it is the first time that we have registered them in different countries at the same time”WHO smallpox expert Rosamund Lewis said in a question-and-answer session on the disease, broadcast on social media.
“We are working closely with various countries to analyze why this virus is now traveling more frequently”stressed Lewis, who also considered the high number of cases registered in urban areas anomalous for a disease that usually occurs in rural settings.
Expert Andy Seale, from the WHO department of sexually transmitted diseases, added that this monkeypox is not one of them, “nor is it a disease linked to the gay community, as some have claimed on social networks, because anyone can contract it through contact”.
“It is a disease that is spread by close contact, not necessarily sexual”insisted the expert.
The head of the WHO anticovid technical unit, Maria Van Kerkhove, added that it is likely that with the increased tracking of cases these will increase in the coming days, but assured that the situation “can be contained” and recalled that most of the Patients do not show severe symptoms.
At the briefing it was recalled that these symptoms may include fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, muscle fatigue, and rashes on the face, hands, feet, eyes, or genitals.
Given the possibility that the virus is a variation of the one usually detected in Africa, where cases have been known for at least 40 years, Lewis affirmed that it is a large virus that in general “is stable and does not tend to have mutations” .
The experts recalled that the conventional smallpox vaccinea more serious disease that for centuries caused great mortality on the planet, proved to be 85% effective against monkeypox.
However, most of the younger generations are not vaccinated against smallpox, which was considered globally eradicated four decades ago, thus halting their immunization campaigns.
OA
