The technicians of the Ministry of Health and the communities of the alert report have completed a protocol for the early detection of monkeypox casesof which there are seven confirmed and more than twenty under study, while assessing the most effective therapeutic options against this unusual disease.
Health, through the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Aemps), is assessing and analyzing different therapeutic options depending on their feasibility and effectivenesssuch as antivirals and vaccines, which this Thursday the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recommended administering to high-risk close contacts.
In any case, at the moment there are no specific treatments or vaccines against infection by the monkeypox virus, although outbreaks can be controlled. In the past, the smallpox vaccine demonstrated an efficacy of 85% in preventing the disease. However, the WHO warns that “the vaccine is no longer accessible to the public, since its production was suspended after the global eradication of smallpox. However, previous smallpox vaccination can contribute to the evolution of the disease being more mild”. In general, it remits in most cases after two or three weeks.
This disease was eliminated on December 9, 1979 and on May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization officially declared the smallpox eradication in the worlda contagious disease that affected millions of people for thousands of years and that in the 20th century alone is estimated to have caused 300 million deaths.
In the Spanish State, vaccination against smallpox was already introduced in the 19th century, although it was not until 1921 when it became mandatory due to the increase in cases and outbreaks. Later, in 1980, coinciding with its eradication, vaccination was suspended. In this sense, people over 41 years of age -the vaccine was inoculated between 12 and 15 months of life- they are probably vaccinated against smallpox and therefore have greater protection against monkeypox. In contrast, people born after 1980 are more at risk of contracting the disease.
However, the best option to ensure whether or not a person has received the smallpox vaccine is to use the vaccination record, either in physical or digital format. This document lists all the vaccines we have received since birth.
Another option to know if we have received the vaccine -without being an infallible or scientific method- is a common characteristic that most people vaccinated for smallpox present. It is a small scar on upper arm. And it is that this vaccine was not supplied with a hypodermic needle, but a bifurcated needle that required two punctures and that left a characteristic mark on the upper part of the arm.
–
