Everything you need to know about Monkey Pox
Monkey Pox virus is currently reported in 20 countries around the world where viral infections are not endemic. It is one of the largest outbreaks of the virus outside of West Africa and has been endemic for many years. The virus has been reported in more than 100 people as countries prepare to fight back with vaccines.
Cases of Monkeypox are currently reported in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France and Italy. So far, no cases have been reported in India. The United States states that it has a Monkey Pox vaccine in stock in case of an outbreak, but in Germany, if the outbreak in Germany becomes more severe, the contacts of people infected with Monkey Pox will be vaccinated. Ordered 40,000 doses of the Bavarian Scandinavian vaccine to prepare for it. The pace of rapid transmission surprised scientists ringing the alarm in development.
Canada has identified 10 new cases of monkeypox, a disease endemic to forest areas in Central and West Africa, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 15. New cases of monkeypox have been detected in Quebec. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said samples were being analyzed and warned: “We expect more confirmed cases in the coming days.”
Smallpox cases in monkeys have sparked worldwide concern amid the ongoing battle against Covid19 caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals, most commonly species gnaw. Common symptoms include rash, fever, and swollen lymph nodes, while milder cases can also go undetected and increase the risk of person-to-person transmission. The majority of cases this year were reported in Europe. Here are the top updates on the monkeypox infection:
> A lancet study based on the first cases of hospital and home infections outside of Africa found that some antiviral drugs may reduce the symptoms of monkeypox and reduce patient exposure time. rice field.
> Researchers of the study also reported detection of monkeypox virus in blood and throat swabs.
> The United States` Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged travellers to avoid close contact with sick people, including those with skin or genital lesions. It also said contact with wild animals (dead or live) like rodents and primates should be avoided.
> The US has one confirmed case so far a Massachusetts man recently returned from Canada.
> Denmark has said it will provide vaccines to close contacts of those infected with monkeypox, the Danish Health Authority told public broadcaster DR on Tuesday.
> Authorities in Madrid have confirmed 11 new cases of monkeypox, bringing the total cases in Spain to 48.
> The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday detected the country`s first case of the monkeypox virus in a young woman who travelled from West Africa. The government said little about the patient but stressed authorities were investigating contacts and ‘taking all necessary measures to limit the spread of monkeypox virus.
> Amid concerns, scientists do not expect the outbreak to evolve into a pandemic like Covid19, given the virus does not spread as easily as SARSCOV2.
As many governments said they would roll out limited vaccinations to combat a surge in virus infections, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday that outbreaks of smallpox cases could be contained in the United States. monkeys outside Africa.
How does Monkey Pox spread?
Monkey Pox is a virus that originates in wild animals such as rodents and primates and sometimes spreads to humans. Monkeypox belongs to the same virus family as smallpox.
The virus is transmitted when a person comes into contact with the virus from an animal, human, or a substance contaminated with the virus. According to the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the virus enters the body through broken skin (even if it is invisible), airways, or mucous membranes (eyes, nose, or mouth).
On the other hand, animal-to-human transmission can occur through bites and scratches, bushmeat preparation, direct contact with body fluids and lesions, or indirect contact with lesions. B. Due to contaminated bedding.
Scientists are also studying the human-to-human contact behind the increasing number of cases of the Monkey Pox virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) also speculates that sexual activity in two recent raves in Europe is the reason for the epidemic. David Heymann, who headed the emergency department at dr WHO, told The Associated Press that the main theory explaining the epidemic of the disease was sexual transmission in a rave in Spain and Belgium.
The CDC states that human-to-human transmission occurs primarily through large respiratory droplets, but other methods of transmission include direct contact with body fluids or lesions and indirect contact with lesions. I am. B. Through contaminated clothing or bed linen. Cases of Monkey Pox have been mild so far and no deaths have been reported. The virus usually causes fever, chills, skin rashes, and facial and genital lesions. Most people recover within a few weeks without the need for hospitalization
The World Health Organization has announced that there are currently 131 confirmed cases of Monkey Pox, with an additional 106 suspected cases in 19 countries.
Experts describe the event as ” random ” but ” containment ” and may have originally been triggered by recent rave sexual activity in Spain and Belgium. The world is still suffering from the effects of the Covid Pandemic, and the rise of another illness is straining many.
Bloomberg Opinion’s Bobby Ghosh hosted a live discussion on Twitter Space with Sam Fazeli, a senior pharmaceutical analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, to understand the facts about the disease and see if it should be of concern.
Bobby Gosh: Let’s start with the most basic questions: What is Monkey Pox?
Sam Fazeli: There seems to be a myriad of viruses in the natural world. This happens to be one of them.
Like other well-known diseases such as chickenpox and Monkey Pox, it is an orthopoxvirus. Monkey Pox is less problematic than Monkey Pox in terms of mortality. The virus that is currently prevalent seems to be a strain peculiar to West Africa. We have known two tribes for decades. Both are endemic to different parts of Africa, Central Africa and West Africa.
Cases can usually be reported by people travelling outside the African continent from the affected areas. This outbreak appears to be extremely rare, as cases have been reported simultaneously in so many different parts of the world. what’s happening? There were 71 outbreaks in the United States in 2003.
This is not due to tourists but to the import of rodents from Ghana. Later, these rodents were infected with prairie dogs, and prairie dogs were infected with humans. At that time, there was a possibility of local infection, but it was certainly an animal-to-human transmission.
This is a problem addressed in many outbreaks of these viruses, from bird flu to Covid.
Note that it is premature to determine if the virus was disseminated separately in different countries in connection with today’s outbreaks, or at least in most cases due to hyperdiffusion events. is needed. The best way to find out how relevant a case is is to organize it.
The first genome was published by Portuguese scientists, they found that the virus looks very similar to the virus found in some countries in 2018 and 2019. It already tells you that it hasn’t necessarily changed that much.
All of these are ready for revision but suggest that most of these cases are hopefully relevant. As an aside, even though it’s called Monkey Pox, it doesn’t come from monkeys, but it’s worth opening. When the monkeys started getting it, we started paying attention to it. Are you from a monkey now?
What do we know about disease transmission?
Orthopoxviruses, especially Monkey Pox, are considered generalists. In other words, this virus can infect a variety of species and infects them. Rodents were the most common transmission route, then jumping to monkeys and now to humans. Sending is relatively easy, but it doesn’t necessarily have to go through a specific path.
In this case, it is thought to be transmitted through contact with contaminated liquid from an infected person and requires relatively close contact.
The majority of infections can occur when you are near a person infected with the virus, that is, when you are picking up exhaled droplets or when you are in physical contact with them.
It can also pass through bacterial carriers that touch the surface touched by the infected person. Several reports are suggesting that this occurs primarily through intimate contact, including true intimacy with people and sex.
I think you need to be very careful not to misunderstand the conversation or the information that comes out. In most cases, being found in a man who has sex with a man has no meaning when it comes to sexual communication.
I’m just looking at how this particular spread happened. It could have been another kind of intimate contact.
What are the symptoms of Monkey Pox?
It starts with a headache and fever. This is what you usually do when you get a virus. These symptoms are your defence system. Many viruses do not like high temperatures, which increase body temperature.
Due to all the chemicals like cytokines released to fight infections, we cause headaches and muscle aches. Then, within a week or two, you will have a rash and acne. Covered by these pustules, there is a risk of bacterial infection and in some cases, sepsis.
The force was born from there. To date, there have been no deaths in this particular group. Lethality is born from there. To date, there have been no deaths in this particular group.
The 13 per cent or 10 to 13 per cent mortality rate of the Central African tribes has been mentioned many times, but it should be remembered that, like Covid 19, it depends on how the patient is cared for.
If the patient is at home, oxygen is not available, there is no intensive care unit, and there is no medical professional, the risk of death for the patient is high.
As in the African countryside where these numbers were calculated, we are confident that mortality will be less than 1% and 0% in countries with good health care and medicine.
Symptoms of chickenpox are reminiscent of childhood. I was bedridden for several days and I remember feeling very uncomfortable.
Do we feel that Monkey Pox is more painful or threatening than chickenpox?
If you have full-blown acne on your skin, it’s a much more troublesome infection, but it varies. I have heard of cases where a person vaccinated against Monkey Pox was infected with Monkey Pox before.
They had only one or two lesions, but nothing. You assume and expect this to be the case for most people who are already vaccinated The question is about unvaccinated people.
How bad do you think it is?
I grew up in India in the ’70s and ’80s and was vaccinated against Monkey Pox as a child. Since then, Monkey Pox has been eradicated and vaccines are no longer given in many countries.
Does this make you more susceptible to Monkey Pox?
Yes, I think so. Probably what’s happening here. There was a suggestion that the blockade of Covid 19 probably made us more vulnerable to
the disease. Both influenza and coronavirus are respiratory viruses In this case, I think it’s a coincidence. Endemic viruses in Central and West Africa have allowed them to spread to people who have never seen a vaccine to protect them from infection or the virus. The good news is that, unlike Covid 19, the vaccine already exists. Some vaccines work both prophylactically and post-illness.
So can they be both preventative and curative?
Yes, a few days after the infection was diagnosed, the vaccine still seems to work. What is interesting is that both vaccines can be manufactured today. Stockpiles may not be very high in these situations, but many countries are already stockpiling, not for fear of Monkey Pox, but fear of Monkey Pox bioterrorism attacks.
The disease is less contagious than Covid and no one needs to be vaccinated. It can be used to treat a diagnosed person or to vaccinate others.
This method, called ring vaccination, has already been shown to be successful in controlling Monkey Pox. There was much debate about whether poor countries could afford the Covid vaccine.
Is there a Monkey Pox vaccine issue?
Pfizer’s Covid 19 Vaccine costs $ 15 to $ 20 each. For most of us living in the United Kingdom, Sweden, or the United States, this is not expensive given the protection you give.
To control the global spread of this virus and manage it better, I think COVAX equivalence will buy vaccines for countries where vaccines cannot be bought. At the same time, the cost is determined by the volume.
If you only need 1 million cans instead of 400 million cans, the margin is small for such quantities and the vendor will probably have to charge a little more. I don’t think this would be a very expensive vaccine. It’s encouraging.
How did executives react to Monkey Pox?
President Biden felt compelled to answer questions about this while travelling abroad to South Korea.
At the political level, did you learn anything from the fight against Covid, which is especially helpful when dealing with Monkey Pox?
As I said before, it’s good that this isn’t a disease that many people haven’t dealt with before, even if it’s not necessarily a living memory. It has been about 50 years since we stopped the Monkey Pox vaccination program.
Bavarian Nordic, one of the manufacturers of Monkey Pox vaccines, has met with health authorities in several countries over the past few days and seems to have agreed six months ago.
This shows that countries are already thinking about it, so it doesn’t matter if they were thinking of Monkey Pox rather than Monkey Pox. Is there any reason to think that Monkey Pox is seasonal?
Most infections, especially those in the respiratory tract, are expected to decrease when people spend more time outdoors than indoors. This will be sent via your contact. So I don’t think it can be classified as seasonal.
What about the variants that became a problem with Covid 19? Do Monkey Pox viruses show signs of developing new mutants that are resistant to existing therapies?
It’s too early to know. Nigeria collects excellent epidemiological data, but not as large as SARSCoV2 given the number of Monkey Pox cases. Since SARSCoV2 is also an RNA virus, it is more likely to mutate. Early data from Portuguese scientists suggest that the viral genome is similar to that of 2018 and 2019, which is quite reassuring. When the virus propagates at high levels, the fact that mutations occur cannot be escaped. Therefore, you need to monitor it.
What are we doing to protect ourselves from Monkey Pox?
It was in Covid. There are choices that all of us can make in our lives about our situation, such as B . Decided to wear a mask. If you feel worried or threatened, you can take precautions. I think most scientists expect this to ultimately limit themselves. This is especially true if you are very conscious because it is not easy to translate.
It’s been a few weeks since the story broke and cases were reported in different countries, but have you already seen more research done on this outbreak?
I know that genomics works to sequence the viral genome for a better understanding of epidemiology. This is a great way to find out how these incidents are related when you only have 200. There are at least two medicines that can treat the virus and at least two vaccines. So I don’t think it’s necessary to do a huge amount of research. All we have to do here is to have good public health policies to manage and decide where to go next. Would you like to go back and vaccinate everyone who has not been vaccinated, or just siege?
How is India preparing to fight Monkey Pox?
India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will publish comprehensive guidelines for the treatment and prevention of Monkey Pox later this week, with nearly 100 confirmed cases of the viral disease worldwide. The decision will be made at a meeting
on Monday and will be attended by officials from the Indian Medical Research Council (ICMR), World Health Organization (WHO), National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), clinicians, and the Ministry of Health for standard operation. Was strengthened. Procedures for travellers who show symptoms of Monkey Pox after returning from the affected country. Detailed guidelines include identifying patients with illness at the airport, laboratory tests, symptoms, prevention, surveillance strategies, hospital reporting, and community awareness.
According to WHO, more than 92 cases have been reported from 12 countries so far. “You don’t have to worry about Monkeypox, but you do have to be vigilant. The Ministry of Health and ICMR have returned from countries affected by Monkey Pox, treatment, prevention, community awareness, signs and symptoms of Monkey Pox. We have developed guidelines for Monkey Pox in terms of isolation of sick patients, surveillance strategies at airports and ports, and hospital infection control. Countermeasures for suspicious reports and many other preventative measures. Therefore, these are the Ministry of Health. It will be a comprehensive guideline that we expect to publish in the next few days. ” Nivedita Gupta, ICMR Senior Scientist.
” The public should know what the disease is and how to notify a medical facility if symptoms appear. Since the virus expects to reach India only on overseas trips, monitoring at the port It’s very important, ” said scientists. Email inquiries to ICMR spokespersons remained unanswered at the time of the press. Monkey Pox is derived from animals such as rodents and primates and is transmitted to humans. It is found near Africa, mainly in rainforest areas. The main symptom is fever with an acute rash of unknown cause throughout the body. Other signs consist of headache, swollen lymph nodes, muscle and frame aches, returned pain, and weakness.
Meanwhile, NCDC has identified several public health reactions to Monkey Pox.
Priya Abraham, director of the National Institute of Virology, explained the measures and said: All suspicious cases should be quarantined in a designated medical facility until the lesion has resolved and is considered appropriate to terminate quarantine. All such patients should be reported to the IDSP District Oversight Officer. Moreover, in addition to this, all recommended infection control methods should be followed. In addition, if there is clinical suspicion, clinical samples such as fluid, blood, sputum, nasopharyngeal, and oropharyngeal samples from vesicles should be sent to ICMRNIV in Pune. ”
Priya said that if the case is positive, contact tracking should be started immediately for all contacts in the last 21 days. ” Airport authorities collect a 21-day travel history of passengers arriving from countries with Monkey Pox cases to confirm their current health, ” she said. NIV asked if Pune received a suspicious sample or suspicious case, saying, ” We are ready, but have not yet received a suspicious / confirmed sample. NCDC is already configured to monitor and ICMRNIV is ready to receive samples. ”
Global cases of Monkey Pox, according to public health experts, may pose additional challenges during these times. But as a country, India needs to monitor world affairs very carefully, and don’t panic yet.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
