The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the global emergency for the spread of monkeypox in over 70 countries, calling it an “extraordinary” situation. Declaring a global emergency means that the monkeypox epidemic is an “extraordinary event” that could span multiple countries and requires a coordinated global response. In the past, WHO has declared emergencies for public health crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and ongoing efforts to eradicate polio. .
Monkey pox, symptoms, mortality, recovery times: what we know so far
Paolo Russo
“We have reached 15 thousand cases of monkeypox in more than 70 countries in the world, which probably represent the tip of the iceberg. It is likely that they are 5-6 times more: we are therefore close to 100 thousand real cases. Italy remains among the top 10 countries, with about 400 cases. These are impressive numbers “. The point is made by Andrea Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the San Martino Polyclinic in Genoa, who underlines: “Nobody wants to alarm, but be careful to underestimate the problem. It would be appropriate to start now with an important vaccination campaign, addressed to young males, otherwise in September we risk having tens of thousands of diagnosed cases and as many under trace “.
Smallpox and monkeys, what we risk
antonella viola
“Extending the vaccine for human smallpox with the indication also for monkey smallpox seems to me appropriate – comments Bassetti, in the aftermath of the green light from the European Medicines Agency – it is clear that a more specific vaccine would be needed, but at the moment it can go well broaden the indication “. “Perhaps the name monkeypox makes us think of something far from us – reflects the infectious specialist – it would be more appropriate to say that it is smallpox of the skin, since it typically gives skin lesions. At first the problem was undervalued, in Italy but also internationally, and in just over 2 months we have reached an impressive number of cases, there have never been so many before “.