Although for many years it was foretold that humanity would begin to face various challenges in terms of health, which was reflected with the Covid pandemic-12, which has not yet come to an end, now society in general is concerned about another disease that has already registered cases in more than twenty countries: monkeypox.
Despite the increase in cases globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently indicated that, in reality, there is nothing to worry about because there are great differences between Covid and monkeypox and therefore, they do not consider that this The latter could become a pandemic.
However, scientists around the world are already closely investigating the various grouped cases of monkeypox, including those in the United States, in order to alert and prepare people for the possible scenario that the disease can take.
The first thing I h It is important to know that monkeypox is a viral disease and not a zoonosis, that is, it is transmitted from animals to humans, although it can also be transmitted from one person to another.
Transmission of monkeypox can occur from person to person through close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets expelled into the air, and other contaminated objects such as bedding.
“Monkeypox is a virus that belongs to the same family as smallpox, but it should not be confused with the latter in terms of how alarming it is. In smallpox, between 10% and 30% of people die, but with this strain of monkey virus currently circulating, the death rate in Africa is 1% or less,” explained Dr. Gregory Poland, director of the Vaccine Research Group at Mayo Clinic.
“There has never been an outbreak of these dimensions outside of Africa; however, there are now 120 known or suspected cases in 12 different countries. It is something unprecedented”, says Dr. Poland.
Due to the fact that the virus can be transmitted through respiratory droplets expelled into the air, the health expert indicated that it is recommended to use of masks to avoid contagion.
“In the modern history of humanity, it is the first time that there are so many people who have never been exposed to the smallpox virus and who have never been vaccinated against that disease . Perhaps the moral of this is that the general public is going to have to become more educated in science and microbiology to understand all of this along with climate change, very fast travel to international destinations and ignoring basic health recommendations Well, we will see one outbreak after another,” added the doctor.
Regarding the vaccine, Dr. Poland considers that the smallpox vaccine can protect people and that also, in 2019, a vaccine was approved specific against monkeypox in the US, which requires two doses, administered 4 weeks apart and must be vaccinated before exposure.
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