Spain is, at the moment, the second country with the most infections by monkeypox on the planet. After confirming the second death case Due to the disease, concern is beginning to grow among the population, which is still trying to understand the magnitude of the virus. Data offered by the World Health Organization (WHO) show that, as of July 23, infections totaled more than 16,000 cases across 75 countries.
the epidemiologist Quique Bassat has attended the set of the channel 24h of RTVE in order to provide more information to citizens. “It’s the place where there were a lot of ‘super contagion’ events early in the epidemic,” she notes, saying that It is normal that we have more cases than other countries. It also highlights the ‘extraordinarily low fatality rate’, which prevents this monkeypox virus from being ‘a cause for great alarm‘.
Bassat tried to send one reassuring messageremarking that a new pandemic is not likely to start from this, pointing out that the ‘characteristics of transmissibility’ are different from those of the coronavirus, therefore its ‘transmission risk from an index case is much more bass‘.
He stressed the importance of following the security measures recommended by the OMS, among which is the reduction in the number of sexual partners among homosexual men. In addition, it ensures that the decrease in cases goes through a vaccination program for those who are in risk groups, to ‘see how the transmission responds that we are having at the moment to the measures imposed’.
What are the symptoms of the disease?
Some days ago, The British Medical Journal published a study conducted with British patients showing new symptoms related to monkeypox. Among them are:
- Swelling of the penis (edema)
- sore throat
- oral lesions
- rectal pain
- solitary lesion
- tonsil swelling
- inflamed tonsils
To these are added those already they knew before:
- Skin or mucous membrane lesions
- Fever
- Swelling of the lymph nodes
- Muscle pains
Is there a vaccine against the disease?
For now there is no treatment or vaccine that specifically treats infections caused by the monkeypox virus. Still, his genetic similarity with the virus smallpox makes them antiviral drugs and vaccines once prescribed for this disease they are used against monkeypox.
The United States and Europe are among the first places to have approved the use of a vaccine known as JYNNEOS o Imvamune/Imvanex. Esta protects from viruses to people, over 18 years of age, who have maintained close contact with someone infected. The modified living form of the smallpox virus was used in its creation. The supply is limitedTherefore, this vaccine is not being used in the general population.
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