The WHO has declared Monkeypox as a Public Health Emergency at a time when Delhi is getting its first five cases. While there is reason to be concerned one should not panic because the reassuring news from the medical community is that there is little likelihood of it reaching the pandemic status of Covid. Living in a covid continuous world of lockdowns and vaccinations, that is a real concern with everyone across the globe. However, the spread of monkey virus should not be taken lightly. As many as five cases have been reported in India, with three of them having travelled to the UAE. The fourth had travelled within India to Himachal where he had attended a couple of parties with ‘high risk’ behaviour.
What are the symptoms? Unlike Covid which is sometimes asymptomatic, monkeypox has very visible symptoms in terms of lesions and scabs not unlike the rash you get with smallpox and chickenpox. The first sign of the infection is fever, headache and bodyache. Within three days you will see a rash that is found at the extremities ie on the face, palm of the hand and soles of the feet but not on the trunk of the body. The virus is self healing and requires isolation for about four to six weeks until the scabs fall off. The smallpox vaccination is found to be 85 % effective in the treatment. In fact those who have had the vaccination (before smallpox was eradicated in 1980) will have a strong degree of immunity against the virus. Though the vaccinations had stopped being produced at a mass scale post the eradication there are some third generation smallpox vaccinations available with select sources, such as the US defence, that are being used.
How does it spread? Unlike Covid which is spread through the air, monkeypox is primarily spread through touch and body fluids ie skin to skin contact and sometimes through droplets from the mouth and nose if you are in close physical proximity with an infected person. Although monkeypox has been around since the 70s it was mostly limited to 11 African countries and not much research has gone into its cure. But now that its a global concern there will be more focus on research for a comprehensive vaccination.
There is another cause for concern. Since the virus is spread mostly through skin to skin contact, this brings sexual contact into focus, specially amongst homosexual men. In fact 95 percent of the 3000 cases in the US have been spread through homosexual contact as have most of the cases in Europe. Now, this information comes with a handle with care tag because one doesnt want to stigmatize a particular community as super spreaders (remember what happened with Covid in India?) . Everyone has a right to respectful and non stigmatizing care. Apart from which targeting the patients will only lead to suppression of the fact and could lead to a greater spread. Those indulging in what our doctors label as`high risk› behaviour too need to take care, avoid multiple partners and anonymous sex
Hence the need of the hour is not just science but also some commonsense, tolerance and understanding.
