- The institution noted that there is currently only one known case of the disease in the country; however, health authorities must be alert and reinforce their epidemiological protocols
After the World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared the international monkeypox emergency, the National Academy of Medicine considers that it should not wait until it is too late to avoid a potential source of infection in Venezuela. In a statement released on July 24, 2022, they ask the authorities of the Nicolás Maduro regime to issue a preventive health alert.
He stressed that the measure of OMS commits all countries to give the disease the same priority that the covid-19 pandemic or the eradication of polio had at the time. In this sense, they urged the regime to allocate the necessary resources to prepare. He also indicated that it must be articulated with civil society to activate epidemiological protocols, always adhering to respect for human rights.
In this sense, the Academy gave a series of recommendations to the authorities to address the situation. One of them is to strengthen the capacity for molecular diagnosis and genetic monitoring of the virus. That is, to guarantee enough laboratory tests for potential patients and to follow up on their close circles. They note that this makes it necessary to develop an epidemiological surveillance program that includes clinics specializing in sexually transmitted infections.
On the other hand, they also advise starting the proceedings for the acquisition of antivirals and smallpox vaccines, since they might have a high demand in the coming months. Likewise, they ask the regime to be transparent in handling information to citizens, but guaranteeing respect for the privacy of patients.
Just a case of the monkey pox
“Although the outbreak is moderate in Venezuela, where only one case has been confirmed, now is the time to act energetically to prevent the spread of the virus, since an objective of public health is to prevent epidemics before they spread. out of control,” the statement said.
On June 12, 2022, the regime’s Ministry of Health confirmed what is so far the first and only known case of monkeypox in Venezuela. The patient had landed at the Maiquetía airport from Madrid, Spain. Days before, he had had contact with infected people in the Catalan city of Barcelona, for which the laboratory test was immediately carried out, giving a positive result.
In this case, the health checks arranged at the airport following the coronavirus pandemic served to detect the case before it hit the streets. The patient is currently isolated and in stable health condition.
health concern
Monkeypox, also known as monkeypoxIt is a relatively new and rare disease. There are records of it up to 1950 in laboratory monkeys, and it was not until 1970 that the first human cases were detected in Central Africa. Although it owes its name to its initial contagion among primates, it is known that it can also be transmitted by contact with rats, mice and even rabbits.
Since then it had been an endemic disease in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, although in 2003 there was a small epidemic in the United States, with a total of 93 cases. However, the picture changed on April 29, 2022, when the first case was detected in a patient in the United Kingdom. It quickly spread through Spain and Portugal, and then to other regions.
The WHO currently records more than 16,000 cases in 75 countries. 80% of infections are concentrated in Europe, where this type of smallpox was completely unknown. In the rest of the continents it remains at a moderate level. At the moment the mortality of the virus is less than 1%, with only five confirmed deaths.
It is the seventh time that the organization has declared an international emergency since its implementation in 2005. It did so for the first time with influenza A (H1N1) in 2009, followed by Ebola in 2014 and 2018. Also for the 2014 polio outbreaks, the zika virus in 2017 and covid-19, which continues today.
Rapid spread of monkeypox
One of the factors that most worries health authorities is the speed of monkeypox to get infected. In large part this is because current generations are not immunized once morest the smallpox virus, whose disease was declared eradicated in the 1970s. Precisely one of the options that the WHO is studying is to use the vaccine that ended its human variant and adapt it for this new outbreak.
At first it was discovered that the first patients were homosexuals who had transmitted the disease following having intimate relationships. This led many analysts to comment that they were the main epidemiological risk group; however, many experts fear that poor communication of this data will lead to accentuating discrimination once morest this group, as occurred with the HIV pandemic during the 1980s.
“Although the virus began to spread through social networks of men who have sex with other men, it is known that there are already cases among women and children. Meanwhile, it is critical that the most affected people receive the necessary preventive and therapeutic care, without danger of stigmatization or impairment of their human rights”, highlights the National Academy of Medicine.
It is important to clarify that the monkeypox It is not a sexually transmitted infection, nor is it spread only between people of the same sex. In fact, it can be spread in a very similar way to other diseases such as measles, simply by direct or indirect contact with an infected person.
“The virus of monkeypox It can be transmitted by direct intimate contact with body fluids and skin lesions, by respiratory droplets from infected people, and by indirect contact with surfaces and materials such as clothing, towels, bedding, cutlery, and dishes from infected people.
