Is the hotly debated monkeypox scary? How to prevent it? Since May this year, there has been more and more information about the outbreak and epidemic of monkeypox, which has also caused heated discussions and concerns among many netizens. On the afternoon of May 28th, the official WeChat account of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention released a popular science article. Chen Yanwei and Dou Xiangfeng from the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Institute for Disease Control and Prevention explained 9 issues related to monkeypox in detail.
According to the official figures released by the WHO, as of May 21, in 2022, WHO has received a total of 92 laboratory-confirmed monkeypox cases and 28 suspected cases from non-foci of the disease, with no deaths yet. Countries where cases have been detected include the UK, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Canada, France, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States. According to official information, more cases are expected to be found in the future.
1. What is “monkeypox”?
Monkeypox is a pre-existing disease that is zoonotic. Unlike COVID-19, monkeypox is not an emerging infectious disease. Compared with the new crown, monkeypox requires more conditions to achieve transmission, so it is less efficient.
Its pathogen is monkeypox virus, which belongs to the same genus of Orthopoxvirus as smallpox virus. Since the eradication of smallpox in the world in 1980, monkeypox has spread in parts of Africa considered to be the most important orthopoxviruses facing humans.
Different from RNA viruses that are prone to mutation such as the new coronavirus, monkeypox is an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus with a relatively stable genome and a slow mutation rate. It is divided into the Central African (Congo Basin) branch and the West African branch, where the African (Congo Basin) branch kills as many as 10% of those infected in Africa and is thought to be more likely to spread. This European-wide monkeypox outbreak, initially analyzed as a West African strain, had a case fatality rate of about 1% in past outbreaks.
2. What is the source of infection of monkeypox? How is it spread?
Monkeypox patients and animals infected with monkeypox virus are the main source of infection of monkeypox. At present, monkeys are not considered to be the reservoir hosts for monkeypox virus, and rodents in Africa may be important reservoir hosts. Animals that can be infected with monkeypox include woodchucks, gambian squirrels, tree squirrels, striped squirrels, striped mice, rabbits, dormouse, and porcupines.
Human-to-human transmission of monkeypox can occur, but it is less efficient. It is usually spread mainly through contact with the patient’s lesions or clothes, bed sheets, etc. It can also be spread through respiratory droplets, but this usually occurs only with prolonged, face-to-face contact.
What are the symptoms of monkeypox?
The incubation period for monkeypox is usually 6-13 days, but may be 5-21 days. Infected people experience fever, headache, and swollen lymph nodes, which can occur in the neck, armpit, or groin on either side or on one side of the body. A rash followed. The rash usually starts on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body. The rash progresses from macules, papules, vesicles to pustules and lasts for a week or so before scabbing. Once all scabs fall off, the infected person is no longer infected Contagious. Most infected people recover within 2-4 weeks without special treatment.
4. How to prevent monkeypox?
Confirmed patients need to be quarantined to avoid infecting others.
The general population does not touch the skin and body fluids of patients who may have monkeypox, and does not touch the patient’s contaminated clothing, towels and bedding, which are effective measures to prevent infection by the patient.
Keeping distance, wearing masks and washing hands frequently in crowded places, avoiding contact with wild animals, especially sick or dead animals, and not eating undercooked meat products will also reduce the risk of infection.
Is there a vaccine for monkeypox?
According to the information released by WHO, the effectiveness of vaccination against monkeypox is about 85%. People who have been vaccinated against smallpox usually have milder symptoms of monkeypox. In 2019, a newer vaccine based on a modified attenuated vaccinia virus (the Ankara strain) was approved to prevent monkeypox. However, most countries have stopped the production and stockpiling of smallpox vaccine, and the newly developed monkeypox vaccine has not been used on a large scale.
Is there a cure for monkeypox?
Monkeypox is usually self-limiting and requires no special treatment. One of the drugs currently used to treat severe monkeypox cases is tecovirimat, an antiviral drug used to treat smallpox, which received European Medicine in 2022 based on data from animal and human studies Association (EMA) licensed for monkeypox, but not yet widely used.
7. Is monkeypox the same as chickenpox?
Chickenpox is a completely different disease from monkeypox. The causative agent of chickenpox is “varicella-zoster virus”, which belongs to the family Herpesviridae, and humans are the only host of this virus. Also, chickenpox can be prevented by getting the chickenpox vaccine.
8. Both monkeypox virus and smallpox virus belong to the genus Orthopoxvirus, so are monkeypox and smallpox the same?
The clinical manifestations of monkeypox are similar to those of smallpox, but the fatality rate of smallpox is as high as 30%, and the disease progresses rapidly. Compared to smallpox, monkeypox is much milder, it has a lower case fatality rate, and while the rash looks scary, monkeypox is self-limiting for most people, but children, pregnant women, or immunosuppressed people may The condition is serious and requires close attention.
9. Is there a possibility of imported cases of monkeypox?
There are no confirmed cases of monkeypox in my country, but as the epidemic situation in other countries increases, the risk of imported cases of monkeypox in my country will also increase accordingly. In view of the fact that during the new crown epidemic, countries have already experienced the test of prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases, and the current transmission capacity of monkeypox virus is limited, even if the number of cases increases, ordinary people do not need to worry too much.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Jiang Ruojing Correspondent Chen Yanwei Dou Xiangfeng