TRENTO. The message is clear and, from many points of view, comforting: «No alarmism, but a little attention is needed. Attention to which, given the last two years, we should be used to ». The virologist Fabrizio Pregliascoprofessor at the State University of Milan, comments on the first case of monkeypox diagnosed in Trentino and in a Trentino.
The man, who is at home in isolation but in good health, had just returned from a trip to the Canary Islands and, given the presence of some skin blisters, he presented himself two days ago at the Emergency Room of the Santa Chiara Hospital, where through a swab of the liquid contained in a vesicle the diagnostic confirmation arrived.
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Monkeypox is a sylvan zoonosis – a disease affecting wild animals – with accidental human infections, usually occurring in wooded parts of central and western Africa. Here’s what we know (source: Higher Institute of Health).
Monkey pox, origin, symptoms and treatments: here’s what we know
Professor, should we be worried in light of this case?
The message is not an alarm but a warning. Clear communication to the community is necessary and anyone who suspects that he is infected is responsible: let himself be identified, seen and treated. First of all, going to your GP.
In March 2020 there was the first case of Covid in Trentino: it seemed to be nothing important, instead we have all seen how it ended. But is comparing these viruses wrong?
These are pathologies with different characteristics. And with monkeypox it won’t lead to a public health problem like Covid. Furthermore, there is a fundamental difference: in the case of the so-called monkeypox it is infected when one is symptomatic, while we know well that in the case of Covid the greatest problem is linked to the fact that the asymptomatic are also infected.
So anyone with symptoms needs to be careful.
Exactly. And the symptoms are fever, back pain, swollen lymph nodes and blisters. The transmission route is represented by a term that we know well by now, the droplets, but with a much lower effectiveness than Covid. We also need to pay attention to sexual activity, which is risky. To date, the series speaks to us of infections between men, young people and pluripartners.
This disease is associated with Africa: why do we find it today in the Trentino Dolomites?
Strangely, in fact, it has spread in different areas than those in which it is endemic. In Africa it is linked to animals, such as dogs, mice, squirrels, rats, even if its name owes it to monkeys. Already in the past there were some outbreaks, but today the new aspect is that the infected have not been in Africa.
A virus that has changed from the past?
No, I would say no. And this is good news: the data we have in hand says that the virus is the same one we knew.
Let us recap what to do at this stage.
We are seeing the tip of the iceberg: at this moment it is essential, I repeat without alarmism, to talk about it and be able to limit the fire while it is small. If we do this, I believe that within a few weeks in Italy we could have a hundred, at most a few hundred cases. If, on the other hand, we are not capable of it, in the worst scenario the cases could reach a few thousand.
So we must immediately raise the threshold of attention, but without “repercussions” on the life of each of us.
The fire is now being extinguished while it is still limited. There must be effective tracing, identification of suspected cases and close contacts, and quarantine. All this by giving just and effective signals and explanations to the population. On the part of science and institutions, the lesson of Covid has served: the exchange of data and information was immediately rapid.