More questions about typical monkeypox symptoms are emerging as health officials investigate a global rise in the virus, which is rarely found outside of Africa.
Why is this important: Many cases of the growing monkeypox epidemic have been found in people with no travel links to places where it typically circulates. Health officials have so far detected cases in much of Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia.
What they say : President Biden said Sunday that the recent spread of monkeypox to at least 12 countries is “something everyone should be concerned about.”
- “It’s a concern in that if it were to spread it would have consequences,” Biden told reporters at Osan Air Base in South Korea, where he met with troops before heading to the Japan on the next leg of his trip to Asia.
- But Daniel Bausch, infectious disease expert and president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, told Axios last week: “I don’t think there’s a reason to panic. I don’t think we we’re going to have tens of thousands of cases.”
According to the CDC, the disease begins with these symptoms:
- Fever
- Headache
- Muscle aches
- Back ache
- Swollen lymph nodes (also called lymphadenopathy)
- Chills
- Exhaustion
To note : Within one to three days after the fever, patients typically develop a rash, which often starts on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body, the CDC said.
- “There is no specific treatment for monkeypox virus infection, although antivirals developed for use in patients with smallpox may prove beneficial,” the CDC notes.
Details: Monkeypox, which can be transmitted by droplets and through close contact with infected skin lesions or contaminated materials, typically incubates in people for five to 13 days before symptoms appear.
- Transmission can be from animals or human-to-human contact, but “it’s usually documented among very close contacts. So, family members, people caring for sick patients. Or health care providers.” , Andrea McCollum, head of the poxvirus epidemiology team at the CDC, told STAT News.
- Children are more at risk and monkeypox can lead to pregnancy complications or stillbirth, according to the WHO.
- Doctors should suspect monkeypox if patients have a rash after traveling to countries with confirmed cases or if a patient has reported contact with someone who has traveled to one of these country, the CDC said in a health alert.
- British officials have identified numerous recent cases of monkeypox in gay or bisexual men, possibly resulting from close contact at bars and parties.
Keep in mind: UNAIDS, a joint United Nations programme, said in a statement that it is concerned that “some public reporting and commentary on Monkeypox has used language and images, particularly depictions of LGBTI and African people, that reinforce the homophobic and racist stereotypes and exacerbate stigma”.
- “Lessons from the AIDS response show that stigma and blame directed at certain groups of people can quickly undermine the response to the epidemic,” according to UNAIDS.
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