MONKEY
POX - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
News: ‘Substantial’ pre-symptomatic monkeypox spread found
What's
in the news?
●
There is now more evidence for
pre-symptomatic transmission of monkeypox virus.
●
A study published recently in BMJ, which
involves a larger cohort, found that pre-symptomatic transmission had taken
place as long as four days before symptoms manifested.
● The researchers have estimated that 53% of monkeypox virus transmission have occurred during the pre-symptomatic phase.
Key
takeaways:
●
Pre-symptomatic transmission of monkeypox
virus will mean that many infections
cannot be prevented by simply isolating people showing symptoms.
●
Also, the effectiveness of contact tracing and subsequent quarantine will not be
sufficient to break the transmission chain since by the time all the
contacts have been traced, they might have already spread the virus to other
people.
● Pre-symptomatic transmission has implications for vaccination strategies and the feasibility of disease elimination.
What
is Monkeypox?
●
Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease with symptoms similar to smallpox, although
with less clinical severity.
●
It was first discovered in 1958 in
colonies of monkeys kept for research. Hence the name monkeypox.
● The monkeypox virus comes from the same family of viruses as smallpox, belonging to the orthopoxvirus genus in the family poxviridae.
Transmission:
●
It is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person
or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus.
●
Normally, the virus is spread from one
person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory
droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.
●
The viral zoonotic disease that occurs
primarily in tropical rainforest areas
of central and west Africa and is occasionally exported to other regions.
●
The clinical presentation of monkeypox
resembles that of smallpox, a related orthopoxvirus infection that was declared
eradicated worldwide in 1980.
● Monkeypox is less contagious than smallpox and causes less severe illness.
Symptoms:
●
According to the WHO, monkeypox is usually
a self-limited disease with the symptoms lasting from two to four weeks. Severe
cases can occur.
●
The symptoms of the disease are fever,
rashes and swollen lymph nodes, which may lead to a range of medical
complications.
●
In recent times, the case fatality ratio has been around 3–6 per cent.