< strong>▎WuXi Contex Content Team Editor
Recently, a number of countries including the United Kingdom, Portugal, and the United States have reported unusual cases of monkeypox. The World Health Organization (WHO) also issued a notice a few days ago, reminding global health agencies to pay attention to the development of the epidemic. Monkeypox is a disease caused by monkeypox virus infection. The monkeypox virus is not new, it was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1970s. There are still sporadic outbreaks in forested areas of central and western Africa. What is unusual about the monkeypox cases identified in several European and North American countries is that most of the patients have not traveled to Africa, and the source of their infection cannot be determined. The report by the European Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that this is the first time that the chain of transmission reported in Europe has no epidemiological link to Central and West Africa. Monkeypox may still be relatively unfamiliar to most people, and in today’s article, the WuXi AppTec content team will introduce its knowledge to readers.
Image source: References
What is monkeypox? Monkeypox is a disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. Monkeypox virus is a close relative of smallpox virus, it is a zoonotic virus, although called monkeypox virus, it is not only found in monkeys, mainly through rodents and primates, etc. Various wild animals are transmitted to humans, but secondary transmission can also occur between humans. Monkeypox symptoms and severitymonkey The incubation period of pox can reach 5 to 21 days, during which time the patient is asymptomatic. In the early stage (0-5 days), the patient’s symptoms are similar to those of a cold, including fever, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. Unique features compared to smallpox. Usually within 1 to 3 days after a fever, patients will develop a rash in different stages. The rash may initially appear in the mouth, then start on the face and spread to other parts of the body. The number of rashes varies from a few to several thousand. The rash evolves from an initially flat maculopapular rash to small fluid-filled blisters to pustules that scab over about 10 days and take about three weeks to completely disappear. These rashes are usually very painful. When the rash develops, the patient is contagious.
1 mpa-powered-by=”yiban.io”>▲Monkeypox lesions in a patient (Image source: CDC’s Public Health Image Library, Media ID #2329, public domain)< /span>
Monkeypox is usually a self-limiting disease, meaning no treatment is needed and the patient will Recovery, symptoms usually last 14 to 21 days. However, severe patients can also die, depending on the level of exposure to the virus, the patient’s health and the severity of complications. Of the two main circulating monkeypox viruses, the West African strain has a recorded mortality rate of 1%, and the Congo Basin strain may cause more severe disease, with a mortality rate of around 10%. The virus in monkeypox patients recently discovered in Europe is a West African strain. How Monkeypox Virus SpreadsMonkeypox Virus The main mode of transmission is through direct contact with the blood, body fluids, skin or mucosal wounds of infected animals. Secondary transmission between humans is mainly due to close contact with the respiratory secretions, skin lesions of the infected person, or objects contaminated with the patient’s body fluids or diseased tissue (such as the patient’s rash after ruptured fluids contaminated with clothing, sheets, etc.). Monkeypox virus can be present in respiratory droplets, but usually requires prolonged face-to-face contact to spread. Therefore, family members of infected persons face a greater risk of infection. Monkeypox virus prevention and treatment The CDC website states that common household disinfectants can kill monkeypox virus. Because monkeypox virus and variola virus are closely related, vaccine against variola virus is also protective against monkeypox virus. Previous data obtained in Africa showed that the smallpox vaccine wasAt least 85% effective against monkeypox. However, because the smallpox virus disappeared in the 1980s, the smallpox vaccine is not a routine vaccination. The immunity of individuals who have been vaccinated against the smallpox vaccine has also declined significantly after many years, and the protection against monkeypox virus limited ability. In terms of treatment, there is currently no specific drug for monkeypox. As a means to control the outbreak of monkeypox virus, smallpox vaccine, antiviral drugs and vaccinia immune globulin can be used . In 2018, the US FDA approvedthe first drug for the treatment of smallpox, TPOXX(tecovirimat), which may also be effective against monkeypox.
▲Tecovirimat Molecular formula (Image credit: By Ed (Edgar181) [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons)< /span>
Advice from health agenciesdue to The source of the infection has not yet been determined, so the World Health Organization and health agencies in other countries have recommended intensifying monitoring of local rash cases, as well as tracing and tracing possible cases. Because some symptoms of monkeypox are similar to other diseases that cause rashes (eg, shingles, a rash caused by a sexually transmitted virus), some monkeypox patients may be misdiagnosed with other diseases. Healthcare providers should consider a diagnosis of monkeypox virus infection when identifying patients with symptoms similar to monkeypox. Early detection of cases, isolation and tracking of suspected cases, and raising people’s awareness of the disease are the keys to preventing secondary infections and effectively controlling the epidemic. Remaining QuestionsInfectious disease experts say that Although monkeypox virus has been identified for a long time, due to the limited number of patients (about 1,500 recorded cases in total as of 2018), what we know about it is not Not as detailed as I thought. Immunity to monkeypox virus declined due to the cessation of vaccination following the extinction of variola virus, which in the Republic of Congo manifested as a 20-fold increased risk of monkeypox infection in the 30 years after variola eradication. This gives the virus more opportunities to evolve into variants that are more easily spread among humans. To date, the R0 value of monkeypox virus (representing how many people can be infected by a monkeypox patient) has been less than 1, which means that monkeypox outbreaks usually Calm down naturally. However, the unusual features of this monkeypox case have caught the attention of industry experts. Are monkeypox cases occurring in multiple countries at the same time because of a new variant of the virus that spreads more easily, is it just because more people are traveling internationally, or is there some other reason? In the coming days and weeks, further research by scientists is expected to provide answers, such as sequencing of the viral genome may uncover mutations in the monkeypox virus genome, providing insights related to the virus’ transmissibility, and the data It can also be used to perform lineage analysis of monkeypox viruses that have emerged around the world to better map the virus’s spread. We expect scientists to answer the unsolved mystery of this monkeypox case as soon as possible and guide more effective prevention and control methods.
[1] 17 suspected monkeypox cases seen in Montreal, as European tally increases. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://www.statnews.com/2022/05/19 /17-suspected-monkeypox-cases-seen-in-montreal-as-european-tally-increases/
[2] A CDC expert answers questions on monkeypox. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://www.statnews.com/2022/05/19/a-cdc-expert-answers-questions-on-monkeypox/
[ 3] Monkeypox. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/det ail/monkeypox
[4] Monkeypox cases reported in UK and Portugal. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news -events/monkeypox-cases-reported-uk-and-portugal
[5] Monkeypox – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://www.who. int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON383
[6] CDC and Health Partners Responding to Monkeypox Case in the U.S. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0518-monkeypox-case.html
[7] Di Giulio, et al., (2004) . Human monkeypox: an emerging zoonosis. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(03)00856-9
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