Monkeypox was commonly spread by infected rodents – including rats, mice and even squirrels – in West and Central Africa, where humans can contract the disease – which comes from the same family as smallpox – if they are bitten by infected animals, or touch their blood, bodily fluids, or scales, or they ate the meat of wild animals.
How do you get monkeypox?
Orthopoxvirus, which causes monkeypox, can enter the body through cracks in the skin even if it is not visible, as well as through the eyes, nose and mouth.
Although spread mainly by wild animals, monkeypox was known to be transmitted between humans, however, health chiefs insist it was very rare until the current outbreak..
Human-to-human spread can occur if a person touches clothing or bedding used by an infected person, or through direct contact with virus flakes. The virus can also spread through coughing and sneezing.
In the continuing increase in cases, experts believe that the virus is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact during sex – although this exact mechanism has not yet been seen..
How does it cause death?
Monkeypox is usually mild, with most patients recovering within a few weeks without treatment, however, the disease kills up to 10% of cases, but this high rate is believed to be partly due to a lack of testing, which means that a tenth of known cases She died instead of a tenth of the injuries.
However, with milder strains, the death rate is closer to one in 100 – similar to what happened when Corona was first infected, and according to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”, the West African strain of the virus, which is mild compared to the African strain Central, which is behind the current outbreak, no deaths have been reported as part of the ongoing outbreak.
How is it tested?
Monkeypox can be difficult to diagnose because it is often confused with other infections such as chickenpox. Monkeypox is confirmed by clinical evaluation by a health professional. The test involves taking samples of skin lesions, such as part of the crust or fluid from the lesions. or pieces of dry peel.
What are the symptoms?
It can take up to 3 weeks for patients with monkeypox infection to develop any of its telltale symptoms Early signs of the virus include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and fatigue – which means it might, in theory, be mistaken as Other common diseases.
But the most unusual feature is the rash that often begins on the face, then spreads to other parts of the body, usually the hands and feet. The rash changes and goes through various stages before eventually forming a crust that later falls off.
How long does a person stay contagious?
An individual is contagious from the point where the rash appears until all the scales have fallen off and there is healthy skin underneath, as the scales may also contain infectious viral material, the contagious period is believed to last for 3 weeks but may vary between individuals.
What do I do if I develop symptoms?
The UK’s Health Security Agency advises Britons to contact their sexual health clinic if they have a rash with blisters and have been in close contact with a suspected or confirmed case of monkeypox or have been in West or Central Africa in the past three weeks Brits are asked to contact the clinics before Visit them and avoid contact with others until they are examined by a doctor.
What is monkeypox?
Monkeypox was first discovered when an outbreak of a smallpox-like disease occurred in monkeys kept for research in 1958..
The first human case was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and infection has been reported in a number of Central and West African countries since then.
Only a small number of cases have been reported outside Africa and have been restricted to people with travel links to the continent.
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection that kills up to 1 in 10 people but does not spread easily between people. Tropical disease is endemic in parts of Africa and is known for its rare and unusual rash.
Is it related to chickenpox?
Although causing a similar rash, chickenpox is not associated with monkeypox. The infection, which usually affects children, is caused by the varicella zoster virus..
For comparison, monkeypox – like smallpox – is an orthopoxvirus, and because of this connection, smallpox vaccines also provide protection once morest smallpox. .
Britons under the age of 50 may be more susceptible to monkeypox, according to the World Health Organization, because children in the UK routinely received the smallpox injection, which protects once morest monkeypox, until 1971, the World Health Organization warns, The mortality rate was higher among young children.
Does it spread as easily as corona?
Leading experts insist that we will not see levels of transmission similar to corona in an outbreak of monkeypox, as corona spreads mainly through droplets released by an infected person whenever they breathe, talk, cough or sneez.
How can monkeypox be protected from?
Close contacts of people with confirmed monkeypox infection are asked to stay home for 21 days and avoid contact with people under 12 years of age, people with weakened immunity and pregnant women..
The British government said that unprotected direct contact or high-risk environmental contact includes living in the same home with someone who has monkeypox, sexual contact with them or even just changing bedding “without appropriate personal protective equipment that might expose a person to infection, as is the case with Corona virus, a person who came within one meter of an infected person is classified as having contact with monkeypox.
What if it continues to spread?
Professor Kevin Fenton, regional director of public health in London, said that if the outbreak in the capital continued to grow, the spread of vaccines and treatments might be expanded to include more groups..
He added that there are “plans in place” to get more antiviral drugs if the outbreak continues to grow.
What other countries have monitored cases?
More than 40 countries – including the US, Spain and Italy – have detected monkeypox cases, with most cases detected in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Canada and Germany.
What are the treatments for monkeypox?
There are a few antiviral drugs and smallpox treatments that appear to work on monkeypox, including ticoverimate. tecovirimat which was approved for monkeypox in the European Union in January, an injectable antiviral used to treat AIDS called cidofovir can be used to control infection, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).CDCIt also works by stopping the growth of the virus.
Is there a vaccine for it?
Smallpox vaccine, called Amphanix Imvanex In the UK and Genius Jynneos In the United States, it can protect once morest monkeypox Because pathogenic viruses are closely related, data shows they prevent regarding 85% of cases, and they have been used off-label in the UK since 2018..
The vaccine, which costs £20 per dose, is believed to contain a modified vaccine virus, which is similar to both smallpox and monkeys, but does not cause disease in humans, due to its similarity to smallpox viruses, the antibodies produced once morest this virus provide mutual protection.
