JawaPos.com – A number of countries have found asymptomatic cases of monkeypox. That is, if the symptoms are generally characterized by a rash or nodules on the body accompanied by fever, a person without symptoms means that they do not feel any symptoms.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the most common symptoms for monkeypox infection include fever, severe headache, swollen lymph nodes, backache, myalgia, weakness and rash. Monkeypox is usually a self-limiting disease with symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks.
A number of patients infected with monkeypox also complain of symptoms such as rectal pain and penile edema (painless, painless swelling of the penis). The British Medical Journal last month pointed out that although the virus has been known since 1958 (the first human cases surfaced in 1970), some observations suggest new symptoms of anal and penile pain.
Asymptomatic Case
A number of studies found in medRxiv report that a person can contract monkeypox without symptoms. A recent study found that 3 men tested positive for monkeypox without showing any symptoms.
”All three men denied having symptoms in the weeks before and after the samples were taken. None of them reported exposure to a diagnosed monkeypox case, nor did any of their contacts develop clinical symptoms of monkeypox,” the study said.
Consultant Infectious Diseases, Yashoda Hospital Hyderabad, India, dr Monalisa Sahu, told the Times of India, these patients can have an atypical presentation as there is no rash and no prodromal symptoms. These patients are asymptomatic during the incubation period of 5–21 days.
Worrying Findings
Epidemiologist from Australia’s Griffith University Dicky Budiman said the findings of this study were worrying. The reason is, it turns out that not only people with symptoms need to be isolated or undergo examination, it turns out that people without symptoms also exist in the community.
”This finding is very worrying, yes. The absence of these symptoms means that we are not only isolating cases of close and symptomatic contacts. There will be people in the community who feel painless and asymptomatic. Especially in the gay group, which tends to be closed because of the stigma,” he told JawaPos.com, Monday (8/8).
With the closure of this group and the presence of asymptomatic findings, the potential for transmission from person to person is even greater. Dicky said the possibility of infection in the community is getting bigger. ”In turn this can spread to the community. It will get harder. This disease, although not through the air, but close contact can be very high interaction. It could increase sharply in the future,” he said.
The solution, he said, was to build risk communication within the community. Clean and Healthy Lifestyle Behavior is very important. ”And so surveillance is very important. Especially in healthcare. And outreach at high risk. Continue to track symptomatic cases. If awareness remains low, it is complicated by stigma, then make sure drugs and vaccines are available,” said Dicky.
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