If the virus eventually becomes endemic, there is a risk that it will continue to circulate among the population. For the vast majority of the population, this will not be a problem, explains Van Ranst, because the symptoms of illness are often limited to fever, muscle aches, sore throat, swollen glands, followed by a rash or blisters that burst.
But the disease does pose a risk to people with immune problems and children: they can develop severe forms of the disease, which may require hospitalization. “In proportion, the number of hospital admissions will not be much, as is the case with covid. But you don’t want to let this disease get a foothold with us.”
So your conclusion, Professor Van Ranst? “We shouldn’t dramatize this, because monkey pox is not covid or Ebola. But we shouldn’t trivialize this either: it’s not a cold. So we have to take this seriously.”
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