“Our researchers have discovered, first in the world, that the virus responsible for monkeypox may be present in semen. I want to thank them and I also want to thank the new director of Virology Fabrizio Maggi.” This is what the director general of the Spallanzani Institute for Infectious Diseases, Francesco Vaia, also announces: “We have always said, even in difficult times, for example to young people, that we can and must afford everything, live the life but in safe conditions “
Spallanzani researchers, explains a note released by the National Institute for Infectious Diseases, “have discovered, first in the world, that the virus responsible for monkeypox can be present in the seminal fluid of a person affected by this disease in a form capable of replicating. The virus was isolated in the institute’s laboratories from seminal fluid collected from a patient 6 days after the onset of fever and, in cell culture, it was shown to be capable of infecting and replicating in the laboratory “. “So far, the presence of the genetic material of the virus has been detected in the seminal fluid of 6 of the 7 patients studied at Spallanzani, but in this case the virus has also been isolated in culture. Researchers at the Spallanzani Institute are conducting further studies on the duration and persistence of the virus in sperm and other biological materials, to fully understand the mechanisms of human-to-human transmission of this virus. The discovery could particularly shed light on the role of sexual transmission, hypothesized in the context of the current outbreak that involved over 1000 cases, reported from 28 countries around the world where this infection is not endemic “, the note continues. “This result follows the work of the Institute researchers on Monkeypox which led to the identification of the first Italian cases, the subject of an article last week in the journal of the European Center for Disease Control Eurosurveillance, and to the first sequencing of Monkeypox. virus in Italy which has shown that this virus belongs to the strain responsible for the current international spread “, concludes the note.
The cases of monkeypox registered in Italy as of 8 June rose to 29. The figure emerges from an update document of the World Health Organization (WHO) published on 10 June. The highest numbers in the WHO European area are seen in Great Britain with 321 cases, Spain with 259 and Portugal with 191. As of June 8, 1285 laboratory confirmed cases and one probable case have been reported by 28 countries in four regions of the ‘WHO where monkeypox is not common or had not previously been reported. No deaths have been reported in these four regions. WHO expects an increase in cases.
breaking latest news © Copyright ANSA
