Monkeypox: UK totals up to 71 after new cases have been identified in the UK

Number of confirmed cases Monkeypox In the UK, it rose to 71 after 14 more infections were confirmed. EnglandHealth officials say.

Despite the detection of more cases, the risk to the general population remains low, said the UK Health and Safety Agency (UKHSA)-scientists are concerned about the spread of the virus to animals and pets. However, it is an infection that can become a permanent reservoir of virus.

To date, no cases have been identified in Wales and Northern Ireland. One infection was detected in Scotland, but currently 70 infections have been reported throughout the United Kingdom.

The UKHSA states that a notable proportion of cases identified so far are among gay and bisexual people, and these groups pay attention to new rashes or lesions that form on any part of the body. He added that he should pay.

Dr. Susan Hopkins, UKHSA’s Chief Medical Advisor, said:

People who appear to be symptomatic are advised to limit contact with others and ring 111 or go to a local sexual health service “as soon as possible”.

People who come into contact with infected individuals are provided with vaccines that are commonly used to protect against smallpox caused by similar viruses.

Known as ring vaccination, this strategy involves healthcare professionals, sexual partners, and flatmates. High-risk contacts are also required to be quarantined at home for three weeks, as the virus has a long incubation period and can take weeks to develop symptoms.

Outbreaks of this disease have been reported in nearly 20 countries where monkeypox is not endemic, with more than 130 confirmed or suspected infections, primarily in Europe.

The World Health Organization describes the sudden increase in cases as “atypical,” but states that the outbreak is “containable” and limited. The fact that cases have been seen in so many different countries suggests that the infection may have spread quietly for some time, officials said.

Monkeypox is usually found in West Africa, and the virus does not tend to spread easily among people. The illness is usually mild, and people infected with the virus usually recover within a few weeks.

Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and malaise. The rash often begins on the face and can spread to other parts of the body, including the genitals.

The first confirmed case in the UK was a returnee from Nigeria, while the other cases are unrelated to travel.

Sir Jeremy Farrer, director of the Wellcome Trust, said in so many countries, “I’ve never seen anything like this in so many cases.”

On Monday he said the BBC Radio 4 Today program had a small outbreak in the past and recorded cases in the UK, but suggested that “this is different, something has changed” due to a super-spreader event. May be.

“The virus may have changed, but I don’t think it’s likely,” Sir Jeremy said. “Perhaps the niche in which this virus currently exists enables some super-spreader events, and individuals involved in it are likely to have traveled to other parts of the world and become infected.”

WHO’s key advisors also described the occurrence of cases as a “random event.” This could be explained by two recent major events in Europe.

Dr. David Hayman, a former WHO emergency department head, said the main theory explaining the epidemic of the disease was sexuality between gay and bisexual men at two rave in Spain and Belgium. He said it was a communication and the close contact it brought about.

“We know that monkeypox can spread when in close contact with the lesions of an infected person, and sexual contact seems to have amplified its transmission,” said Dr. Hayman. ..

This is important from the typical epidemic pattern of this disease in central and western Africa, where people mainly infect animals such as wild rodents and primates and the outbreak has not spread across national borders. Indicates a deviation.

The disease can be fatal in about 10% of infectious diseases, but no deaths have been reported in current cases.

As health authorities compete to understand and contain ongoing outbreaks, it is important for the European Disease Control Center to “control exposed pets and prevent the disease from being transmitted to wildlife.” I warned you.

“When a human-to-animal transmission occurs and the virus spreads to animal populations, there is a risk of the disease spreading in Europe,” the agency said.

Scientists have pointed out that it will be difficult to determine whether the recent epidemic of monkeypox throughout Europe is sexuality itself or close sexual contact.

Mike Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London, said:

French health officials said Tuesday that they recommended launching a targeted vaccination campaign to combat the outbreak of monkeypox, but Moderna is testing potential vaccines against the disease.