It is a viral infection, which is found mainly
in Central and West African countries. For the first time in the year 1958,
this viral infection was found in monkeys. The disease was first detected in
humans in 1970. Nigeria had the largest outbreak of monkeypox in 2017, with 75%
of its patients being male.
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| [The image shows a baby is affected by Monkeypox virus] |
The symptoms of monkeypox can appear from the 5th day to the 21st day of
infection. Initial symptoms are flu-like. These include fever, headache, muscle aches,
back pain, shivering, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. After this, the rash
starts to appear on the face, which also spreads to other parts of the body.
During infection, this rash goes through many changes. Eventually, they fall
off like a scab, just like smallpox.
Professor Jimmy
Whitworth of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said in a
conversation with the news agency Reuters – International travel was closed for
a long time due to the Corona epidemic. Now after the abrupt removal of
restrictions, people are moving to and from African countries. Maybe that's why cases of monkeypox are coming
to the fore. The world battling the corona epidemic is now
increasingly vulnerable to monkeypox.
The disease has spread to 15 countries
within just 15 days. After Belgium on Monday, Britain has also made a 21-day quarantine
period compulsory for monkeypox patients. At the same time, the World Health
Organization (WHO) has warned that even one case of this disease in any country
will be considered an outbreak. On the other hand, India has also become alert
seeing the rapid spread of monkeypox.
On Monday, the Municipal
Corporation of Mumbai prepared a 28-bed isolation ward at Kasturba Hospital
for suspected patients of monkeypox. However, not a single case of this disease
has been found in the country so far.
Cases of monkeypox have been reported in
the UK, USA, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Australia,
Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Israel, Austria, and Switzerland. In just 2 weeks,
the number of cases has crossed 100. However, not a single death has been reported
from this disease so far.
The concern of the
central government regarding the monkeypox has also increased. In view of the
rapidly spreading infection, an alert has been issued to the National Center
for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The Health Ministry has directed the officials of airports and seaports to
immediately isolate any sick travelers who have returned after traveling to
monkeypox-affected countries and send samples to the National Institute of
Virology (NIV), Pune for testing.
According to the WHO, a rare infection like
monkeypox usually gets better on its own, but it can prove to be serious in
some people. Such people include young children, pregnant women, and people with
very weak immunity.
Children younger than 5 years are more prone to it. The WHO is also concerned that most people who are confirmed with monkeypox have no connection to African countries. Actually, this virus is mostly found in Central and West African countries. It is common to find cases in countries like Nigeria, Ghana, and DR Congo.
Stay healthy, stay safe...
