In our country and in many parts of the world, we have entered a period where the effects of the coronavirus epidemic have diminished in recent months. The number of cases dropped, restrictions were lifted. Just say that life will be back to normal, a new virus news came from Europe and America; monkey flower†

Our bodies, which are now sensitive to viruses and the infectious diseases they cause, immediately panicked. This disease, which has been observed in 15 countries so far and is caused by monkeypox virus (MPXV); It is closely related to smallpox, which originated in the 17th and 18th centuries and continued into the 20th century. However, there are of course some differences between them.

Monkeypox and smallpox, same-sex viruses

Both viruses cause similar lesions on the skin, and vertebrates and arthropods are natural hosts. Poxviridae family of viruses in the subfamily Chordopoxvirinae under Orthopox viruses is under. Therefore, they are closely related.

The symptoms of the diseases caused by the two viruses are also similar;

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In both diseases

• High fever
• Backache
• Fatigue

symptoms are common. In addition to these symptoms, although rare, abdominal pain and vomiting are also seen in smallpox while these two symptoms are absent in monkeypox.

The main difference between the symptoms of the two diseases is seen in monkeypox, but not smallpox. swelling of the lymph nodes status. Chills are also one of the symptoms of monkey pox.

Another important difference is the lethality.

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Smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases in history and is said to have killed more than 300 million people in the 20th century alone. According to the published data, every infected person has 3 out of 10 people was losing his life. In monkey pox, this percentage is 1 in every 10 people. appears as. So monkeypox is not as deadly as smallpox.

Vaccination is the most effective treatment

In fact, no vaccine has been developed and proven effective against monkey pox. However, the smallpox vaccine, which was developed against smallpox and was discontinued after this disease completely disappeared, can also be used in cases of monkeypox. It can be effective up to 85% has been expressed. This means that people who have had the smallpox vaccine in the past (production of this vaccine was discontinued in the late 1970s) may have a milder recovery from monkeypox.

It is a more advanced version of the smallpox vaccine known as the first vaccine developed in history that has not been used for nearly 40 years. ‘modified virus Ankara (MVA) It was approved in 2019 for the treatment of monkey pox, but is not widely used yet. Another drug approved for monkeypox is tecovirimat (TPOXX), an antiviral drug, and was approved in January 2022.

Source 1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4