Geneva.
Although the number of monkeypox infections has fallen by 90 percent, the WHO has not yet given the all-clear – on the contrary.
For the German public, the outbreak was the monkey pox in 2022 a temporary shock in the shadow of the corona pandemic. Hardly anyone talks about them today. The World Health Organization (WHO) is different. She even urges vigilance. Mpox is one of the three most dangerous active virus groups on earth.
“We could have a virus variant in three years that is much less easy to contain – that’s a real one Riskwarned WHO monkeypox expert Rosamund Lewis ahead of the anniversary of the first outbreak in Europe.
Also read: Monkeypox: what became of the dreaded infection
Monkeypox first takes hold in Britain
Exactly one year ago, the new Illness in Europe for the first time. In Great Britain, the WHO identified the first infection on May 7, 2022. Previously, the Mpox virus was only known from a few African countries.
More than 87,000 Mpox cases have been reported to the WHO from 111 countries since the beginning of 2022 (as of April 25), including 130 deaths. One is still valid today health emergency, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). This is the highest alert that WHO can issue. However, most newly affected countries have the outbreaks under control again.
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Still on high alert: WHO is concerned
“It is worrying that it has stepped out of its ecological niche in Central and West Africa,” said Sylvie Briand, director of the WHO Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Division in Geneva. “The virus could change more contagious or infect a susceptible population group that has so far been spared,” such as pregnant women or small children. “The disease could take a much more severe course in these groups.” So far, men who have sex with men have been particularly affected. Learn more: Mosquitoes bite in the spring: these remedies help
Germany was among the ten countries with the highest case reports, behind the US with more than 30,000 cases, followed by Brazil, Spain, France, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and the UK. That only says something about the distribution to a limited extent. Not all countries have a good surveillance system. According to the WHO, there are limited, especially in African countries test options.
Caution Mpox: 99 percent of those infected are men
In Germany, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has received almost 3,700 Mpox cases and none since May 2022 deaths transmitted (as of April 28). After a sharp increase, the number of cases fell significantly from August. The vast majority of those infected were men, with less than one percent women, adolescents and children. According to the RKI, no case has been registered since the end of January 2023. However, the RKI warns that the numbers could increase, for example if more events with many participants take place again in spring.
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Three vaccines are available that significantly reduce the risk of infection. Mpox infection spreads among humans through close physical contact. It usually brings fever, headache and muscle pain and a skin rash with pustules. The virus probably originally came from small mammals such as sun or chipmunks or giant hamster rats. Mpox is related to the classic human pox virus, which has been eradicated since the 1980s and had raged for centuries. (dpa/fmg)
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