(Image source from: Twitter.com/WHOAFRO)
The World Health Organization has declared mpox as a public health emergency after 1100 deaths were reported since January and even the viral infection has spread to five African countries, where nearly 27000 cases have been registered. WHO represents that mpox has a global health emergency for the second time in two years.
Mpox: This is a viral infection, which is usually mild, but can kill children and adults with weak immune systems. HIV patients are at high risk.
The virus was outbroken in the Democratic Republic of Congo and began spreading to neighbouring countries. Mpox transmits through physical contact, mainly through sexual contact. Till now there is no evidence that the infection spread through air. But the infection is spread very easily between people.
WHO declared this a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC), which is the highest form of alert from WHO. They asked the nations to handle the infection outbreak.
Clade llb, this particular infection has started spreading globally and larger among men, who have sex with men.
Some of the nations are on the safer side with safe sex practices and vaccines. But the African continent has been at high risk for decades. The first case was in Congo in 1970 and since then it has been the worst hit.
There are two strains in mpox, clade l and clade lb. Clade is a reference to the form of the virus. The new clade lb has been widely spread in Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya. Outside Africa, Sweden has reported the first case on Thursday.
After the outbreak in Sweden, the WHO has warned nations to have travel restrictions to stop the spread of mpox. Not only Sweden, but Pakistan also confirmed their first mpox case on Friday, the patient has recently returned from a Gulf country.
The worry is about the fatality rate and the health care of the patients when it breaks out. In Congo, the rate across clade l and clade lb is 4 percent. Clade lb is less deadly compared to clade l.
However there is no such worry as COVID-19, as mpox vaccines are available, and even medical professionals are aware of the treatment and medications. The challenge is only to provide sufficient medicine on time and to prevent the spreading of the disease to other nations.
Tamil Nadu government has already warned their airport health officials and port health officials to check the travellers mainly from Africa continent to prevent the spread of disease.
Common symptoms for mpox are fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes, along with pox-like rashes, which typically appear two to three weeks after exposure.
