The alarm goes up in Great Britain for the “monkeypox“. On May 16 the outbreak reached seven positive cases, of which the last 4 are all gay or bisexual men from London. Patients have no connection to Africa – where the virus it is enedemic – and therefore experts assume that the disease is spreading autonomously in the community.
Health authorities have advised doctors and nurses to pay attention to presenting patients skin rashesas monkeypox is often mistaken for other rash diseases such as chicken pox, measles, scabies and syphilis, making early diagnosis difficult.
The alert of the authorities: transmission in the gay community
«The UKHSA (United Kingdom Security Agency) is rapidly investigating the source of these infections because evidence suggests there may be a community transmission of monkeypox virus, spread by close contact. We are especially urging gay and bisexual men Pay attention to any unusual skin rashes or injuries and contact a sexual health service without delay» said Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor to the UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA).
Symptoms: fever, headache and rash
Early symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, body aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. A rash may develop, which goes through several stages before forming a scab, which later falls off.
Mortality 1 in 10
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection that kills up to one in ten patients infected but does not spread easily among people. It is transmitted via droplets of saliva into the breath during prolonged face-to-face contact or through bodily fluids.
All seven cases in the UK tested positive for the West African virus strain, which is believed to be milder compared to other versions. Studies are currently underway in Great Britain to understand how patients became infected.
The first case in Great Britain in 2018
Il first case of monkeypox in a human it was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and has since been detected in numerous countries in Central and West Africa.
The virus is endemic to Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2003 the disease was detected in the United States when an outbreak occurred following the importation of rodents from Africa.
The first cases in the United Kingdom instead they date back to 2018, when three people contracted the virus after a man returned from Nigeria. Another case was detected in London in December 2019 and two more cases were detected in North Wales in 2021. To date it was believed that all cases were linked with travelers who had been to Nigeria, but the latest cases found have not connections with the African country. For this reason, investigations are underway to reconstruct the chain of infections and whether the disease is circulating in the London community.
All seven cases in the UK tested positive for the West African virus strain, which is believed to be milder than other versions.
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