Monkeypox: What is known about the unusual outbreak detected in several countries…

I’m sorry if you think the world is still recovering from the covid-19 pandemic, but you have another virus to deal with.

About this time monkey flower and there are more than 90 confirmed cases in at least 14 countries where this disease is not normally expected to occur.

What’s going on? Is it time to worry or are we so sad that we are experiencing covid?

Let’s be clear: his Tanyone no othera Pandemic cegg-19 and we’re not close to seeing lockdowns again to contain the spread of monkeypox.

However, this is an unusual and unprecedented epidemic that has completely baffled scientists specializing in the disease, and a virus changing its behavior has always been a concern.

• Reasons why mosquitoes chose us as victims thousands of years ago
• Monkeypox: how is it transmitted, what are the symptoms and what to do to avoid it

Until now, monkey flower was pretty predictable.

The natural home of the virus is wild animals, and in fact, it is believed that it is rodents, not monkeys, that transmit the virus.

When someone comes into contact with an infected creature in the rainforests of West and Central Africa, the virus jumps between species. His skin erupts into a rash that first swells and then crusts.

The virus is now outside of its usual home and working hard to spread, requiring prolonged close contact to replicate. Then, buds tend to be small and a disappear on one’s own.

Few cases have emerged before in other parts of the world, but all of these could be immediately linked to someone traveling to an affected country and bringing it home.

This is no longer the case.

• For the first time, the virus is found in people who do not have a clear connection with West and Central Africa.
• It is not clear from whom people bought it.
• Monkeypox is spread during sexual activities and in most cases there are lesions on and around the genitals.
• Most of those affected are young gay and bisexual.

“We are in a very new situation; This is surprising and alarming,” said Peter Horby, director of the Institute for Pandemic Sciences at the University of Oxford, UK.

Although he said that this is not cegg two«He noted that we “must act” to prevent the spread of the virus, because that is “something we really want to avoid”.

• “The biggest monkeypox epidemic ever seen in Europe”: What is this disease, which has already been detected in more than a dozen countries, and what risks does it pose to health?

Doctor Hugh Adler, who treats monkeypox patients, agrees: “This isn’t a pattern we’ve seen before, it’s a surprise.”

So what’s going on?

We know this epidemic is different, but we don’t know why.

There are two broad options: the virus has changed or the same old virus found it in the right place at the right time to evolve.

Monkeypox is infected with a DNA virus, so Does not mutate as fast ceggs or flu.

Very early genetic analyzes suggest current cases are very closely related to the forms of the virus seen in 2018 and 2019. It’s too early to be sure, but for now There is no evidence that this is a new mutant variant in the game.

But as we’ve learned from the unexpectedly large Ebola and Zika virus outbreaks over the past decade, a virus doesn’t have to change to seize an opportunity.

“We always thought it was easy to contain Ebola, until it wasn’t,” said Professor Adam Kucharski, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

It’s not clear why gay and bisexual men are disproportionately affected. Does sexual behavior facilitate the spread? Is this just a coincidence? Is a community more conscious about sexual health and being controlled?

Monkey pox may have become easier to propagate.

In the past, collective smallpox vaccines may have provided older generations with some protection against the closely related monkey disease.

“It’s probably spreading more effectively than during the smallpox era, but we don’t see anything to suggest it might,” said Adler, who hopes this epidemic will pass on its own.

What is the link?

Understanding how this epidemic started will help predict what will happen next.

We know that we only see the tip of the iceberg, as the detected cases do not fit a clear picture of “this person relayed this to that person”.

Instead, most of the cases seem unrelated, so links in a chain that stretches across Europe and beyond are missing.

• How is monkeypox different from the devastating smallpox that was eradicated 40 years ago?

A recent major spillover event, in which large numbers of people gathered in the same place like a festival, contracted monkeypox and then moved to different countries may explain the current situation.

The alternative explanation for why so many unconnected people are infected is that the virus has really been circulating undetected for a while, covering so many people.

Either way, we can expect more cases to continue to be found.

«In general, I don’t think people should worry at this stage. “But I also think we have it all figured out and we’re out of control,” said Professor Jimmy Whitworth of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

But remember, we are not in the same situation with covid-19.

East it is a known virus, not new, and we already vaccines andtreatments. In most cases, it is a mild illness, but it can be more dangerous in young children, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems.

But it spreads more slowly than Covid-19, and the prominent, painful rash makes it harder to miss than a cough that could be anything.

This makes it easier to find people who may be infected and vaccinate those at risk of contracting it.

However, Hans Kluge, Regional Director for Europe of the World Health Organization, warned: “I am concerned that the contagion will accelerate as we enter the summer season (…) with mass rallies, festivals and parties.”