What is monkey pox? How it is dangerous for us?
After receiving the first case of monkeypox in America on Wednesday, now its cases have also been reported in France, Sweden, Italy and Australia. That is, so far this disease has spread to a total of 10 countries, due to which the team of World Health Organization (WHO) has also swung into action.
1. Monkey pox is like smallpox
It is a viral infection that was first detected in a captive monkey in 1958. Its infection in humans was confirmed for the first time in 1970. It is mostly found in Central and West African countries. Nigeria had the largest outbreak of monkey pox in 2017, with 75% of its patients being male.
Monkey Pox
2. Monkey pox is a contagious disease
This virus enters the body through the eyes, nose and mouth after coming out of the patient’s wound. Apart from this, monkey pox can also be spread by the bite of animals like monkeys, rats, squirrels or by touching their blood and body fluids. According to experts, you can also fall prey to this disease by not eating properly cooked meat or eating meat of an infected animal.
3. Monkey Pox spread in 8 countries so far
Its first patient was found in Britain on 7 May. At present, the total number of patients here is 9. At the same time, 7 patients have been confirmed in Spain and 5 in Portugal. There have been 1-1 cases of monkey pox in the US, Italy, Sweden, France, Germany and Australia. In addition, 13 suspected patients are being investigated in Canada.
4. Reason for sudden outbreak of Monkey Pox
Professor Jimmy Whitworth of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said in a conversation with the news agency Reuters – International travel was closed for a long time due to the Corona epidemic. Now after the abrupt removal of restrictions, people are moving to and from African countries. Maybe that’s why the cases of monkey pox are coming to the fore.
Monkey Pox
5. Heavy on homosexuals
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says that most cases of monkey pox detected in the UK so far are men who identify themselves as gay or bisexual. Monkey pox has not yet been considered a sexually transmitted disease, but it may be spread among homosexuals through sexual contact. In view of this, the agency has also warned gay men.
6. WHO in Action Mode
In view of the increasing infection of monkey pox, WHO has also updated all the information related to it on its website. Along with this, the agency is also investigating the infected people in collaboration with the affected countries. In the UK, the investigation into whether the disease spread through sexual contact among gay men is also ongoing. Contact tracing is also being done to identify potential patients.
7. How Dangerous is Monkey Pox
According to WHO, monkey pox is a rare disease, whose infection can be serious in some cases. There are two strains of this virus – first Congo strain and second West African strain. Both prey on children younger than 5 years. The Congo strain has a mortality rate of 10% and the West African strain has a mortality rate of 1%. West African strain has been confirmed in the UK.
8. Symptoms of Monkey Pox
According to the WHO, the symptoms of monkey pox can appear from the 5th day to the 21st day of infection. Initial symptoms are flu-like. These include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, shivering, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. After this, the rash starts to appear on the face, which also spreads to other parts of the body. During infection, this rash goes through many changes and eventually falls off as a scab like chickenpox.
9. India out of danger for the time being
Till now there is not a single suspected patient of monkey pox in India. So we don’t have much risk of it. However, still caution is needed. Experts believe that they will be able to say something only after getting information about how the cases of monkey pox increased rapidly in Europe and North America.
10. Monkey Pox Treatment
Several researches have found that the smallpox vaccine is up to 85% effective against monkey pox. The Food and Drug Association (FDA) of America approved the vaccine named Jynneos in 2019. It is used for both smallpox and monkey pox. It was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2013. As soon as the first case was received in America, the government has ordered 13 million doses of Jynneos.
