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The monkey pox has already reached Poland. The first case of infection with the virus responsible for this disease in the country was confirmed by the Minister of Health, Adam Niedzielski. On June 17, the Ministry of Health announced that a total of 12 cases were detected. What are the symptoms of the disease? How can you get infected? What is monkey pox treatment and how to protect against it? Below we present the most important information about infection with monkey pox.
- On June 20, the Minister of Health, Adam Niedzielski, confirmed that in Poland, monkey pox was diagnosed for the first time. The patient was isolated at the Provincial Infectious Hospital in Warsaw. The man contracted the monkey pox virus during his stay in Gran Canaria
- Until June 17, the Ministry of Health informed about 12 cases of monkey pox in our country
- Monkey pox is an infectious disease that has so far mainly occurred in Africa. It appeared on a larger scale in Europe in the first half of May
- Currently, most cases are recorded in Spain, Great Britain, Portugal and Germany
- More current information can be found on the Onet homepage
The information on the detection of the first case of monkey pox in Poland was given during a press conference at the Medical University of Lodz, the head of the health department, Adam Niedzielski.
The Minister of Health did not provide details about the source of the infection or the course of the disease in the patient. The spokesman for the ministry, Wojciech Andrusiewicz, said only that the patient was isolated in the hospital.
More details were provided a few days later by Dr. Grażyna Cholewińska-Szymańska, an infectious disease specialist and the head of the Provincial Infectious Hospital in Warsaw. It turned out that the patient was in this facility.
«The man was of a moderate clinical course with changes also of moderate severity. He was in the hospital. He has now completed 21 days of isolation and has gone home under sanitary and epidemiological supervision, she said, adding that the infection had occurred during a patient’s stay in Gran Canaria.
By June 17, the Ministry of Health had reported a total of 12 cases of monkey pox. All patients had characteristic symptoms of the disease and remained in hospital isolation, and their condition was assessed by the doctors as good.
Monkey pox – where does it occur?
Monkey pox is a viral disease that has so far mainly occurred in Africa. Apart from the 2003 epidemic in the US, with dozens of infections occurring in the past decade, only a few cases outside Africa have been detected. This is why the current infections are worrying – monkey pox has never spread on such a scale, both in terms of the number of cases and the extent of its occurrence (almost all continents).
Monkey pox was first identified in monkeys in 1958. In humans it was confirmed in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The disease, like most viral diseases, is very contagious, but the patient does not become infected until he or she has symptoms of monkey pox infection. The monkey pox mortality rate is 10%, and in the case of the West African variety it is lower, about 1%.
Importantly, monkey pox has nothing to do with chicken pox. It is closer to smallpox – a disease that was eliminated in the 70s (it was recognized as eradicated in 1980).
Monkey pox – how does it get infected?
The most common infection occurs as a result of biting or direct contact with sick animals, their blood or body fluids.
Between humans, transmission of the virus occurs through damaged skin, mucous membranes, contact with body fluids (blood, saliva, semen, etc.), as well as through droplets, as a result of prolonged “face to face” contact.
Monkey pox – what are the symptoms of the disease?
The incubation period for the monkey pox virus is six to 13 days. In the early stages of the disease, the most common symptoms of monkey pox are:
- fever,
- muscle aches,
- headaches,
- back pain
- chills,
- fatigue,
- enlarged lymph nodes.
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Two or three days after the first symptoms, a rash appears on the skin and in the mouthheadaches, muscle aches, fatigue, and coughing. If the disease is severe, the rash covers the entire body, including the head. At first, they are macular eruptions, which then turn into vesicular eruptions. In the case of bacterial superinfection, spots may also occur.
The disease usually lasts for two to four weeks. When the scabs fall off the vesicles and pustules, scars appear that can remain on the body for several years.
Monkey pox – treatment and vaccines
Recent research shows that it is used to treat monkey pox The tecovirimate used in the past for smallpox may prove to be effective. However, more attention is paid to prevention. While there is no vaccine against monkey pox, however smallpox vaccine is highly effective (there are two preparations of this type).
As Prof. Agnieszka Szuster-Ciesielska from the Department of Virology and Immunology, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, “guarantees [she] very high, almost XNUMX% protection up to five years after the injection”.
– Later, its effectiveness begins to decline. However, even with lower levels of protection, it still protects against smallpox for decades. In one of the scientific works, we can read that this protection continued after 75 years – she said.
According to information from June 20 this year. Poland has ordered about a thousand vaccines to protect against monkey pox. “We want to have an open path, but we do not know what the needs will be,” said Maciej Miłkowski, Deputy Minister of Health, in an interview with Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. As he added, the ministry is currently waiting for the outcome of the EU tender in this matter.
Can your body cope with the pathogen? What is the condition of your immune system? You can check it by taking blood tests. You can find a package of immunity tests on the Medonet Market.
We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time, we asked Orina Krajewska what, according to her, a holistic approach to health is. How to combine the three aspects – body, spirit and mind to enjoy balance and good health? You will hear about this and many other aspects of the topic in the latest episode of our podcast.