Monkeypox Virus Infection: When the world was trying to relive their lives after winning a two-year-long fight against one of the deadliest viruses i.e. Covid-19, another virus that knocked on the door like an uninvited guest and entered people’s life is called ‘Monkeypox Virus’. According to the media reports, a person in England who had a traveling history to Nigeria was diagnosed with the monkeypox virus.
During the diagnosis of the patient, the Health Security Agency of the United Kindom came across that it’s a kind of rare illness that is somewhere identical to smallpox. Currently, the patient is going through therapy at Guys and St. Thomas NHS Foundation Trust in London. Recently, Portugal has confirmed two cases whereas Britain and Canada announced two cases of the monkeypox in their countries. The medical officials of these countries are trying to track down all the people who came in contact with the infected person.
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| Monkeypox Virus: Infection, Symptoms, Cause, Treatment |
Monkeypox Virus Infection
Monkeypox is a rare disease that belongs to the family of poxviruses which includes smallpox. The disease got its name when the scientists discovered it among the laboratory monkeys in 1958 and the first human case of monkeypox was back in the year 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo & Nigeria and since then the multiple cases of monkeypox have been discovered in several other central and western African countries.
The main carrier of the Nigerian-originated disease is still unknown but African small animals such as rats, rabbits, mice, and monkeys are suspected to carry this virus. The virus was initially discovered in 1985 in the Equateur region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in an apparently unwell squirrel, and then in 2012, from a deceased newborn mangabey found in Cote d’Ivoire’s Tai National Park.
Transmission of Monkeypox Virus
Monkeypox can be spread when a person comes into personal contact with a virus-infected animal, person, or object. The virus enters the body via damaged skin (even if it is not apparent), the respiratory tract, or mucous membranes (eyes, nose, or mouth).
Bite/scratch, bush meat processing, direct contact with human bodily fluids, or direct/indirect contact with lesion material can all cause animal-to-human transmission (such as through contaminated bleeding). On the other hand, human-to-human transmission can occur by sneezing, coughing, or wearing the clothes of the infected person.
Monkeypox Symptoms
In homosapiens (humans), the symptoms of the monkeypox are a little identical but milder as compared to smallpox. One of the differences between smallpox & monkeypox that might help the person to know whether they have monkeypox is that the monkeypox causes the swelling of the lymph nodes throughout the body (lymphadenopathy) while smallpox doesn’t cause this swelling.
The incubation period is also called the time period where the symptoms can be seen for the monkeypox is usually 07 to 14 days but can range from 05 to 21 days. The illness begins with the following diseases:
- Fever.
- Headache.
- Muscle & Backaches.
- Swollen lymph nodes.
- Chills.
- Exhaustion.
After the appearance of fever, the patient’s body develops rashes that start with the face and then cover the whole body. The lesions progress through the following stages before falling off:
- Macules.
- Papules.
- Vesicles.
- Pustules.
- Scrabs.
Prevention of Monkeypox Virus
To save yourself and your loved ones from this virus, there is a list of few measures that one has to take to parent themselves from getting infected with the monkeypox virus:
- Avoid contact with the animals that you think might show the cases of the virus such as (sickness, coming in contact with another animal who was found dead and bedding).
- Isolate the patient who has the symptoms as he/she can infect others living in the house.
- Try to eat light food and keep yourself hydrated by drinking water from time to time and avoid touching any material available in the room.
- Practice good hand hygiene after coming in contact with an infected person or animal by washing hands with alcohol-based hand sanitizer or with clean soaps hand and hot water.
- Use personal professional equipment (PPE) while examining the patient and try to make yourself calm by meditating on yoga or listening to peaceful songs.
Monkeypox Virus Treatment
In the United States, JYNNEOSTM (also known as Imvamune or Imvanex) has been approved to prevent monkeypox and smallpox because the monkeypox virus is closely related to the smallpox virus and during the drug trial in Africa, the smallpox vaccine was 85% successful in preventing the monkeypox.
During the clinical investigation of the JYNNEOSTM, it was seen that the vaccine was able to regenerate the immune system of the person infected with the monkeypox virus. After taking the JYNNEOSTM vaccine, the patient body might be able to fight against the virus and make the symptoms grow in less amount or slowly.
History of Monkeypox Virus
This isn’t the first time that the cases of the monkeypox virus were found in the various countries of the world. Earlier this virus has been found in various countries but the result wasn’t that much harmful as compare to the current situation. The list of previous cases when the people got infected due to the monkeypox is as follows:
2003 U.S. Outbreak: In May 2003, a young child developed a fever and a rash after being bitten by a prairie dog purchased at a local exchange near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In total, a total of 71 cases of monkeypox were reported through 20th June 2003.
2017-19 Nigeria Outbreak: According to the reports, monkeypox spread around Southeast & South Nigeria in the year 2017 and covered multiple states of the country till 2019.
2018 United Kindom Case: In September 2018, the first case of monkeypox was recorded in United Kindom (UK) where a person who entered got infected with the virus before entering the country and was immediately moved to the Royal Free Hospital for treatment.
2019 Singapore Case: On 08th May 2019, a 38-year man who traveled from Nigeria was hospitalized in an isolation ward at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in Singapore after getting confirmed as the first case of the monkeypox virus.
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