As of May 26, the overall confirmed cases of monkeypox there were 257 and about 120 suspected ones. But “the situation is evolving rapidly” and the World Health Organization predicts that identified cases “will increase as surveillance expands to non-endemic countries, as well as to countries known to be endemic that have not reported cases recently” , he points out in a note. British epidemiologists warn about behaviors and situations that favor contagion: music festivals, particularly numerous in the summer, could be super-diffusing events for monkeypox.
Smallpox of monkeys, a mother hospitalized in Ancona (returned from Spain): first suspected case in the Marche
MEETS AT RISK
The UK has confirmed 106 cases, and public health officials say the numbers continue to rise. Dr Will Nutland, of the London School of hygiene and tropical medicine, told the Mail Online that he is concerned about the spread of the virus during festivals: ‘There are potential dangers that could help smallpox to spread further, starting with the places where they occur. sexual contacts’. During a webinar for the LGBTQ + community on the risks of monkeypox, the doctor warned that it could spread to the Mighty Hoopla, a two-day festival to be held next Friday and Saturday in Brockwell Park, south London. “The pop demonstration will attract a lot of queer people,” he told the Sunday Telegraph. Already at the beginning of May, Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said he was worried about “mass gatherings, festivals and parties”, which could speed up broadcasts: the cases identified can be linked “to activities sexual “. A thesis on which Mateo Prochazka, epidemiologist of the United Kingdom Health Safety Agency does not fully agree, according to which smallpox can spread not only through physical contact but also through objects used by an infected person, such as cutlery or clothes. Meanwhile, a British government scientific advisory group has asked for the isolation of hamsters, rabbits and other domestic rodents owned by infected patients for three weeks. The Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance (Hairs) group argues that these animals have an increased risk of contracting the virus and could spread it among wild animals. In this case it would become endemic and difficult to eradicate, as is the case in parts of West and Central Africa. Experts warn that hedgehogs, rats, mice, squirrels, rabbits and hares would be the first to become infected if monkeypox spreads among Britain’s wild animals.
THE VACCINE
Doctors are confident that the monkeypox epidemic will not grow as exponentially as Covid: “The risk to the public remains low,” they assure. Both confirmed cases and close contacts are offered the Imvanex vaccine, to limit the spread of the disease. The strategy, known as ring vaccination, has been used in previous monkeypox outbreaks and is also being implemented in various European countries. At the moment, therefore, the virus causes a disease with non-serious consequences, even if there are no specific therapies. Maria Rita Gismondo, director of the laboratory of clinical microbiology, virology and diagnostics of bioemergencies at the Sacco hospital in Milan, three days ago isolated the “monkeypoxvirus” responsible for the epidemic currently in circulation in Europe. Monkeypox is manifesting itself in a non-dangerous form “which does not threaten lethality – she points out – except in very rare cases of frail or immunocompromised people”. Symptoms are sore pustules, headache, “some have had a high fever for one or two days, others have not.” But at the moment “there is no molecule directed against this virus, even if some antivirals have shown good activity”, continued Gismondo, emphasizing that now “we will be able to test new molecules that may be effective in preventing the disease”. What traced to the Sacco “refers to individuals who participated in an event in the Canaries or residents of European countries who, upon returning from the Canaries, had close contacts with these people, especially of a sexual nature”. A scenario similar to the one that Spallanzani of Rome had also proposed, speaking of a “pan-European” virus correlated with outbreaks in various countries – there are more than 200 cases in the world, most of them in Europe – in particular, precisely, with that of the Canaries. «The thing that reassures us – concludes Gismondo – is knowing where this infection was born, having a very specific cluster. If we are able to inform subjects at risk and people who have had close contacts well, we can certainly limit the situation ».