Monkeypox or Mpox is known as one of the rarest disease that is mainly cause infection of the empire us. Someway to be infected is through physical contact with someone that is infected by materials or animals. As for today, monkeypox has been reported to spread to 12 countries and three of them is part of WHO regions which are Europe, Americas, and Western Pacific. Amidst the declining number of COVID-19 pandemic that will soon pass, we have the 'urgence' of monkeypox instead. So, what is monkeypox actually?
Monkeypox itself is a rare zoonoic disease that is mainly caused by the infection of the monkeypox virus. It can spread from animals to humans through a bite or scratch of infected animal, just like how rabies works. The virus also can be spread through direct contact with bodily fluids or walls from an infected person. Same thing if someone touch or in contact with materials that have touched bodily fluids such as clothing or bed lining. The symptoms of monkeypox is almost as the same as chickenpox but milder. It starts with fever and headache, also muscle aches and fatigue. Some of the main difference between the symptoms between those two type of pox is that monkeypox cause swelling of the lymph nodes while chickenpox doesn't. Also, it takes 6 to 13 days for the incubation period of monkeypox.
Mainly, those who are younger are more susceptible to monkeypox. As for example in Africa and any other countries, most of the cases reported are from children. Prevention actions that we can do is to avoid contact with anyone that may bring the virus such as wild animals, sick animals, or animals that is found dead. We can also avoid physical contact with suspected infected persons, and the most crucial ones to make sure that one's have received chickenpox vaccine first. One research estimates that more than 70% of people in the world don't have any immunity to monkeypox because they haven't received the chickenpox vaccine yet. But knowing that, having the chickenpox might be one of them must go thing to prevent monkeypox infections.
SOURCES
LifeSciencesIntelligence. (2023, May 11). Smallpox, chickenpox, Mpox: Understanding the differences.
Sohn, E. J. (2023). Functional analysis of Monkeypox and interrelationship between Monkeypox and covid-19 by bioinformatic analysis. Genetics Research, 2023, 1-11.
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Multi-country monkeypox outbreak in non-endemic countries. World Health Organization.
Assessed and Endorsed by the MedReport Medical Review Board