On May 18 2022, a man in Massachusetts who had travelled from Canada presented with a rare type of flu symptoms along with soreness in his body. he was then evaluated and got tested positive for a virus. This virus was matched and was found to be the monkey pox virus.
The sudden appearance of a rare virus can be an alarming thing as it's been more than two years, and we are fighting a global pandemic.
Today we will be talking about Monkeypox.
So what’s monkeypox? Monkeypox is a rare disease that is caused by infection with the virus monkeypox itself. Just because it is called a monkey does not mean that it is confined to monkeys only. it is found in many other animals including humans too.
So why was it called monkey pox?
There’s a reason why it's named as monkeypox virus and now I'm gonna tell it. There was a group of scientist who was experimenting on monkeys. some monkeys got sick and developed blisters over their bodies. There were two such outbreaks of a pox-like illness occurring among monkeys that were kept for research, hence it was named monkeypox virus.
So, the Monkeypox virus belongs to the same family of viruses which includes the variola virus (which causes small pox), vaccinia virus (used in the smallpox vaccine), and cowpox virus.
It might be on the news recently but let me tell you that it is not a new virus. it was first discovered in 1958.
Talking about the history, The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
Since then, monkeypox has been reported in people in several countries: The majority of infections are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The natural reservoir or let's say one that actually harbours the virus remains a mystery. However, African rodents and non-human primates (like monkeys) might have spread the virus and infected people.
Monkeypox has many similarities to smallpox but it is not as severe as the rumour says.
How lethal can it be? It can kill 3 to 4% of those who contract the disease.
The fortunate thing is that the same vaccine that was used to prevent smallpox appears to be about 85% effective against monkeypox. this has been confirmed by many observational studies from Africa
but the vaccine isn’t available in greater proportion enough to cease any possible pandemic .because the small pox disease has been eradicated from the globe in 1980 through surveillance and containment.
WHO maintains a reserve stock of vaccine and vaccination needles sufficient to protect more than 200 million in any emergency case but it still will not suffice if any global pandemic occurs.
And now it has been said that WHO will be teaming up with vaccine makers to see if they can hype up the production.
Who are at high risk?
MOST RECENT risk groups ARE AMONG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH OTHER MEN and this is proven with 200 CONFIRMED AND SUSPECTED CASES around the globe.
Let's talk about the pathogenesis of the DZ, or in simple words, how this dz develops ??????????.
THE VIRUS ITSELF IS NOT A SEXUALLy TRANSMITTED INFECTION, even though it's known to be so.
But it's seen that THE VIRUS IS SPREAD THROUGH CLOSE CONTACT WITH PEOPLE, ANIMALS AND MATERIALS INFECTED WITH VIRUS which I will be talking about in detail in the coming minutes.
The virus ENTERS BODY THROUGH BROKEN SKIN, mucosal surfaces like THE RESPIRATORY TRACT, THE EYES, NOSE AND MOUTH. then it reaches the lymph nodes where it multiplies and causes flu like symptoms and blisters on the body.
Once you get the DZ, how do u actually know that you have it?
Well, there are specific clinical features that develop once the virus gets into our bodies. These, my friends are called the symptoms. That develops within a patient. Now you gotta know the difference between signs and symptoms. Signs are what clinicians see, whereas symptoms are what a patient feels and are kinda subjective. might also vary among patients.
The common symptoms of monkeypox are just like a simple pox that begins with Fever
It might be accompanied by Headache
Back pain
Muscle aches and low energy levels or easy fatiguability.
Then it appears as a rash on the face, hands, feet, eyes, mouth or genitals. These rashes are simply called macules .macules are skin lesion that has an unraised surface.
Now, these macules progress to papules which are slightly raised and then, become blisters that are fluid filled which often resemble chicken pox.
The blisters are filled with a white fluid, that breaks and scabs over the body surface.
So basically, Monkeypox usually begins with symptoms similar to the flu including fever, headache, muscle aches, chills, exhaustion and swollen lymph nodes or lymphadenitis. It then progresses to body rashes on the face, hands, feet, eyes, mouth or genitals that turn into raised bumps which then become blisters filled with fluid.
It can last for three to four days and has a lengthy 21 days incubation period. The Incubus period is the time when the virus first gets into ur body and symptoms start to appear in an individual. While the virus has a long incubation period, patients are considered most infectious when they have a rash and this might imply that the fluid is the infectious transmissible form.
anyone can contract monkeypox through close personal contact regardless of sexual orientation so here I don’t mean any offence.
Prevention
Now that I’ve given u a brief idea about the virus, it's our job as wise individuals to help prevent the spread.
We can adopt the following as prevention measures.
Avoid contact with animals that could harbour the virus (including animals that are sick or that have been found dead in areas where monkeypox occurs).
Avoid contact with any materials, such as bedding, that have been in contact with a sick animal or an individual.
Isolate infected patients from others who could be at risk for infection.
Practice good hand hygiene after contact with infected animals or humans. For example, washing your hands with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.
Use personal protective equipment (PPE) when caring for patients.
Treatment
Currently, there is no proven, safe treatment for monkeypox virus infection, but it's seen that the smallpox vaccine, antivirals, and vaccinia immune globulin (VIG) can be used.
Let's hope for a positive in the coming days regarding the successful and complete eradication of the virus.
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