What kind of disease is the infectious disease 'monkeypox' that is spreading in Europe and the Americas?



In May 2022, the number of cases of a disease called '

monkeypox ' was reported one after another in Europe and the United States, and authorities in each country are rushing to identify the source of infection. Various media have summarized what kind of disease is monkeypox, how it spreads, and what kind of origin it has.

European outbreak of monkeypox: what you need to know
https://theconversation.com/european-outbreak-of-monkeypox-what-you-need-to-know-183298

What is monkeypox and its signs and symptoms? --CNN
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/19/health/what-is-monkeypox-virus-explainer-wellness/index.html

Monkeypox outbreak erupts; US, UK, Spain, Portugal, and more report cases | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/05/monkeypox-outbreak-erupts-us-uk-spain-portugal-and-more-report-cases/

Monkeypox is an infectious disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus, and exhibits symptoms similar tosmallpox , which once raged all over the world. People infected with monkeypox virus develop influenza-like symptoms such as fever, headache, swelling of lymph nodes, muscle pain, and malaise after an average latency period of 12 days, and blisters 1 to 3 days after the onset. Will appear on the face, palms, and soles of the feet.

It is difficult to distinguish between smallpox and monkeypox based on symptoms alone, but it has already been declared that smallpox has been eradicated from the earth, and it has been found that the infectivity and mortality rate of smallpox are lower than those of smallpox. I am. In mild cases, the symptoms disappear in a few weeks, but children are more likely to become severely ill, and pregnant women are also at risk of complications, birth defects in the fetus, and stillbirth.



The name 'monkeypox' comes from the fact that the disease was reported as 'smallpox-like disease in crab monkeys' in a laboratory that collected monkeys in the late 1950s. No human infections were reported at the time, but in 1970 the first cases of human infections were reported in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), after which small outbreaks frequently occurred in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is said that it is. The monkeypox virus in West Africa and the Congo Basin seems to have different species, and it is said that the case fatality rate of humans is about 1% in West Africa and the case fatality rate is about 10% in the Congo Basin.

The name 'monkeypox' is given because monkeys were first reported, but it seems likely that the main source of infection with the monkeypox virus is not monkeys, but relatively small mammals such as rodents. It has been. Initially confirmed only in Africa, monkeypox was found in a series of prairie dog owners in the United States in 2003, with 47 cases in six states. In addition, it is known that there were no deaths among the affected cases in the United States in 2003, and that one person who became severely infected was co-infected with chickenpox. Since then, travelers to Africa have frequently developed monkeypox in Europe, with two cases confirmed in the United Kingdom in 2021.

However, in May 2022, nine people, including travelers to Nigeria and their families, developed monkeypox in the United Kingdom, 14 in Portugal, seven in Spain, and one in Italy and Sweden. Infection spreads in Europe. More people are suspected of being infected in Portugal and Spain, and 17 patients in Montreal, Canada, have been reported suspected of having monkeypox and traveled to Canada on May 18. It has been reported that an American man has had monkeypox.

The 2022 monkeypox infection has spread to people who have not recently traveled to Africa, suggesting that the monkeypox virus is spreading within some community. The monkeypox virus is weakly infectious between humans, and the longest documented human-to-human transmission chain so far is only 6 generations, but close contact with the infected person and bedding contaminated with the infected person's body fluids. It is said that it may be infected by contact with such things.

Mateo Prochazka , an epidemiologist at the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), said four of the UK's patients were gay or bisexual men, and the infection could be widespread within the sexual network. It is pointed out that there is. Also, it is said that all the people suspected of being infected in Portugal are young men, but it is thought that the close contact with sexual activity itself causes the infection rather than the monkeypox virus being transmitted by sexual activity itself. ..



Although there is no specific treatment for monkeypox at the time of writing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a method of controlling the onset of monkeypox using a smallpox vaccine, the antiviral drug cidofovir , and vaccinia immunoglobulin . It states that there is .

Related Posts:

in Science, Posted by log1h_ik