The World Health Organization (WHO) announced 92 confirmed cases of monkeypox in 12 countries, with another 28 suspected cases under investigation on 22nd May.
Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America have all documented cases.
According to the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, monkeypox is an uncommon infection spread primarily by wild animals such as rats and primates in portions of west and central Africa.
Symptoms of Monkeypox according to WHO
The illness is usually mild, with symptoms including a high temperature, headache, backache, and a chickenpox-like rash.
According to the National Health Service, the infection can spread through human contact if a person touches monkeypox skin blisters or uses the clothing, bedsheets, or towels of persons who have the disease.
According to the World Health Organization, cases of monkeypox have been discovered primarily, but not solely, among men who have had sex with men and sought care in sexual health clinics, based on available information.
“What seems to be happening now is that it has got into the population as a sexual form, as a genital form and is being spread as are sexually transmitted infections, which has amplified its transmission around the world,” WHO official David Heymann told Reuters.
Monkeypox is spread mostly through intimate contact, according to Heymann, because the disease’s lesions are very contagious.
The United Kingdom began giving smallpox immunizations to some healthcare workers and people who may have been exposed to the disease on Friday. Smallpox, a virus that is related but more severe, has been eradicated.
“Vaccination against smallpox has been found to be roughly 85 percent effective in preventing monkeypox in many observational studies,” according to the World Health Organization. “The shot could potentially lessen the severity of the sickness.”
Also Read: 1ST MONKEYPOX VIRUS DETECTED IN THE UK
