The so-called monkeypox, known by the medical name Mpox, has become a cause for alert for the World Health Organization. It is a disease that spreads from animal to human and is transmitted between them by close physical contact with the exchange of fluids.
This pathology is in the news due to the significant increase in cases in the Republic of Congo, in Africa, due to the spread of the subtype called Ib. According to health authorities, the health crisis is also affecting countries such as Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, which has caused the maximum alert.
These are the symptoms of monkeypox
WHO authorities have pointed out that unlike recent epidemics such as Covid-19, experts have more knowledge about this disease. Monkeypox or Mpox was discovered in 1958, in Denmark. It was detected in monkeys that were bred for research. The first human infection was documented in 1970, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Since then, various laboratories have been dedicated to researching this viral pathology, especially the Clade 1 variant. This variant is responsible for the current alarm and has a mortality rate of 3.6% of cases. Although its main focus is in countries in Central and West Africa, its recent spread is due to different reasons.
Among these reasons, experts mention travel by people visiting these countries and the importation of animals from this part of the planet. The main cause of person-to-person infection is close contact with infected individuals. Symptoms usually appear between 3 and 17 days after exposure and can manifest with different signs.
Experts cite fever, skin rashes, swollen lymph nodes, headache, muscle and back pain. They also highlight the feeling of tiredness and chills for no other apparent reason. After two weeks of fever, skin rashes usually appear, which is perhaps the most representative symptom of this disease.
How the disease is spread
Doctor Tarsys Loayza Roys, with postgraduate studies and training in Microbiology, Immunogenetics, Molecular and Clinical Genetics, describes several forms of contagion. She warns that affected people can infect the disease even at the stage in which they are presenting symptoms. In other words, they are capable of spreading the virus during the incubation phase.
A person can contract the disease through direct contact with the rashes, scabs or bodily fluids of a patient with monkeypox. Also through close and prolonged contact with the droplets emanating from the breath of an infected person. Because of this, immediate isolation of an affected patient is essential, especially in the family environment.
Because bodily fluids are the main vectors of the virus, sexual contact is a sure cause of contagion. Another risk factor is contact with sheets, clothes or towels of people infected with the virus. In the case of pregnant women, they can transmit the disease to the fetus.
How to prevent monkeypox
As is often the case with other epidemics, the most important thing is for healthy people to avoid the disease by taking all possible precautions. This includes limiting direct contact with infected individuals or those suspected of being infected at all costs. It can also be prevented by avoiding touching clothing or other textiles exposed to sick people.
Another way to avoid infection is to maintain and take extreme aseptic standards at all times, such as washing your hands with soap and water. Likewise, it is very important to use alcohol-based hand sanitizers, the same ones that became popular with the Covid-19 crisis. Dr. Tarsys Loayza Roys says that monkeypox is especially dangerous in young children and the elderly.
It should be noted that, in Colombia, monkeypox has been present for several years. However, Dr. Tarsys Loayza Roys clarifies that the variant that exists in the country corresponds to Clade II. The one that has WHO authorities on edge is Clade I, which is spreading rapidly in Africa. There are cases of the latter recorded in Europe and even in Latin American nations such as Peru.
#Monkeypox #mpox #virus #dratarsysloayzaroys #epidemic #alert #WHO #health #contagion #disease #Africa #clade1