Groups of infected men have been found who have had sex with other men, but this has nothing to do with the preference of the virus itself. Today it is being discussed to what extent the disease can be transmitted through sexual contact, but it does not matter whether it is homosexual or heterosexual – told PAP Prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Pyrć, virologist from the Jagiellonian University.
- For several days now, the world has been paying attention to the growing number of people infected with monkey pox
- The disease has already reached 14 European countries, as well as the USA, Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel. No case has yet been confirmed in Poland
- At the moment, 228 cases of the disease have been confirmed, 82 people are being examined for it
- Reports also include outbreaks of the disease among homosexual men
- More current information can be found on the Onet homepage.
PAP: Smallpox closer to Poland. Should we be afraid?
Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć: The question itself carries a sense of danger. I don’t know if we should use such words in this context. Certainly, organizations such as WHO, CDC, the European Commission and governments of individual countries should consider what tools they have to act – in case of emergency. However, this is not a moment when an ordinary mortal has to start wondering: is this the beginning of another pandemic. It is still much too early for that.
Reports show that cases of the disease detected in Europe mainly affect men who have homosexual intercourse.
KP: It is quite a big abuse, admittedly Groups of infected men were actually found who had sex with other men, but this has nothing to do with the preference of the virus itself. Yes, it is debated today to what extent the disease can be transmitted through sexual contact, but it does not matter whether it is homosexual or heterosexual.
I understand, but I mention it because I see a certain analogy to the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the world – the HIV virus causing the disease was transmitted mainly among gays.
KP: It will be more precise to say that it was in this group that initially there were many cases of AIDS, mainly due to the relatively closed environment. At the beginning of that pandemic, a great mistake was made, calling it GRIDS – gay-related immune deficiency syndrome, i.e. immunodeficiency in homosexual people. What it was utter nonsense, and it was downright very dangerous because heterosexuals didn’t think it affected them. This is simply not true. Both diseases have nothing to do with sexual orientation, but at best with the transmission route. In the case of monkey pox it can be similar: if it is confirmed that it is mainly sexually transmitted, then such a picture – many cases in homosexuals – will be a logical consequence – as was the case with AIDS.
I read that it may take only three days from infection to the appearance of the first symptoms of monkey pox, so we should not be afraid of the rapid spread of this disease.
KP: It’s not quite like that, to my knowledge, it is from 6 to 13 days, or even almost two weeks. Thanks to this, monkey pox can spread over long distances – a long time passes from infection to the appearance of symptoms. This is especially important today, when we cover very long distances in a short time. The infected becomes contagious from the first symptoms appear, and remains to be seen whether they become infected. Regardless, there may be just a malaise at first, a slight fever, non-specific flu-like symptoms. Only later, the disease can be easily recognized, as skin lesions appear that are very distinct.
Are people who have been vaccinated against smallpox in a better position, safer, than those who have not received the vaccine?
KP: Smallpox vaccine to a large extent – I mean the rate of about 85%. – protects us from monkey pox. However, I cannot answer the question to what extent it protects someone who was vaccinated fifty years ago. I do not know to what extent this immune system response will be sufficient, to what extent – if necessary – a vaccination will be necessary. But for now – let me mention – it is being debated whether it would make sense to vaccinate against monkey pox. If only for the reason that so far there are only a few dozen cases worldwide for some eight billion people. It is also possible that existing outbreaks will die out, by themselves, as transmission of the virus will be low. In addition, the latter cases in Europe are mild and self-limiting. So it’s nice that we have a vaccine for this disease, but I don’t think you will need it, and neither is the drug that is indicated for use with monkey pox.
When did mass smallpox vaccination end?
KP: It was the end of the 70s, when smallpox has disappeared from the face of the world. I am convinced that it was the greatest success of vaccinology and medicine so far, that it managed to be an infectious, deadly disease that for hundreds of years murdered people all over the globe, sent them into oblivion, or eradicated them. Since the last case of infection was diagnosed in the summer of 1978, vaccination was abandoned in the early 80s, and rightly so, because why vaccinate against something that is not a medical problem.
Returning to monkey pox, what safety measures would you suggest for people who wish to avoid contamination?
KP: So far, there are no specific indications that normal citizens should do anything special in this regard. Dozens of cases around the world are actually nothing. Of course, I do not exclude the possibility that the situation may develop – we already saw two years ago how a virus can get out of control. I wouldn’t panic at the moment, but would pay attention to news and official messages that are coming out of official sources. And that’s it.
Especially that in previous years we have already dealt with situations where there were outbreaks of monkey pox somewhere in the world, but they were self-extinguishing.
KP: It’s true. However, at present we are dealing with the situation that there are exceptionally many of these outbreaks, this was not the case before. So far, the largest outbreak of this disease took place in 2003, in the United States, it affected several dozen people, now we have crossed this border. But let’s approach it calmly – let’s follow the situation, be vigilant, but do not let panic eat our way.
Interviewer: Mira Suchodolska