WHO on Saturday declared the epidemic caused by monkeypox or monkeypox as a public health emergency of international importance. This means that the international organization has raised the alarm for this disease to the maximum.

WHO decision.
The decision was not unanimous, but as of this Saturday, the epidemic caused by this virus has reached the maximum level of alarm among those led by WHO. Despite the robustness of this classification, according to the agency itself, the risk of this disease is “moderate” globally and Europe is the only “high” risk region.

Disease status.
Europe is exactly where 80% of the 16,000 detected cases of this disease are concentrated. Although this is not endemic to this continent.

By Saturday, cases had been registered in 72 countries (three in Nigeria and two in the Central African Republic), causing five deaths. Of the five countries with the highest number of cases by case count, four are European countries (Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and France).

Suggestions.
In a statement, WHO divided the countries into four groups to publish their recommendations. The first two refer to the epidemiological situation in the country, the first group indicates countries with no recent cases and the second the current ones. The third group refers to the countries where the disease is endemic, and the fourth refers to the countries that have the production capacity for the creation of medicinal products against the disease.

For countries with active outbreaks, such as Spain, it is necessary to protect vulnerable groups such as the immunocompromised, strengthen the capacity of laboratories, monitor contacts of infected persons, or establish protocols for clinical management and disease prevention.

Second meeting on this.
This decision is made on the second try. The first meeting to decide whether to declare the alarm was held exactly one month ago, on June 23, after which WHO decided against this classification. The responsible committee considered it too early to decide in favor of the measure.

Monkey pox situation in Spain.
Spain leads in the number of registered monkeypox cases. According to the latest data of the Ministry of Health Health Warning and Emergency Coordination Center, 3,125 cases were detected as of 19 July.

1,378 of the cases in Spain were detected in the Community of Madrid, which is equivalent to the incidence of 204.1 cases per million inhabitants in the region. According to the report, most of the cases are linked to “a history of intercourse in a risky sexual context.”

Monkeypox virus.
The disease is caused by a virus of the genus orthopox virusincluding the cause of common or human smallpox (variola viruses). The high level of vaccination that makes it possible to eradicate smallpox is believed to inhibit the spread of the monkey variant. However, after the disappearance of the human variant, vaccination was discontinued (in 1980) and protection levels have been declining since then.

Monkeypox is usually a mild illness, its symptoms lasting two to four weeks, but it can lead to serious illness. Its mortality has been around 3% to 6%, but the figure is lower in this latest outbreak because it also affects developed countries with higher healthcare capacity.

Infection.
It is a virus that can be transmitted from animals to humans or between humans. The WHO explains that this last route of transmission can occur in “close contact with an infected person’s respiratory secretions or skin lesions.” It can also occur through respiratory droplets from contaminated objects or even prolonged contact.

symptoms.
Although the incubation period of the disease is between six and 13 days, in some cases it can vary both in the upper and lower limits. Symptoms can be classified according to the stage of development of the disease.

In the initial stage these are fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches and lack of energy. In the second stage, the disease is characterized by the appearance of a skin rash. This is usually concentrated mainly on the face and extremities.

Although the existence of this disease has been overshadowed in recent months, international health authorities are on the alert. It is difficult to predict how the disease will develop, but the lessons learned will certainly be useful for the future.

Image | NIH/NAID, Flickr