Symptoms and details to differentiate monkeypox from other skin lesions

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United Kingdom, Portugal and

record an

of

.

The alert and public health systems of the different countries are studying how and

, Africa.

Given the alarm that may arise and the doubts about

suspect

from the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (Seimc), its spokesman, Francisco Javier Membrillo de Novales, points out (in a Twitter thread) that "

to make the appropriate therapeutic diagnostic decisions."

How is the disease that causes monkeypox?

It is

The first human cases were identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. The number of cases in West and Central African countries has increased over the last decade.

Outside of Africa, cases of human infections with

have been documented in different countries, including the US, UK, Israel and Singapore.

In all cases, it has been associated with an imported case or with contact with imported animals.

From the Seimc it is explained that according to the

the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and provisionally adopted since last Tuesday by the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES) of Health and the Autonomous Communities, there would have been This infection should be suspected in: "A person with an

, plus at least one of the main symptoms (described in the next question). In addition to having an

or probable case of monkeypox in the 21 days before symptom onset; be

; or have

to symptom onset.

What are the main symptoms of this virus?

According to Fernando Fariñas, international coordinator of the group of experts on emerging infectious diseases and zoonoses of the Spanish Society of Virology and director of the Institute of Clinical Immunology and Infectious Diseases, "it is the sum of a series of

. It is not just one of them. ".

The initial clinical picture usually includes:

• Fever

  , with temperatures above 38º-38.5ºC.

• Severe

  headaches, headache.

• Myalgia

  or muscle pain and

  arthralgia

  or joint pain "similar to body pain or discomfort from the flu," says Fariñas.

• Lymphadenopathies

  , that is, an increase in lymph nodes, "which are palpable in the cervical area and under the jaw," highlights the director of the Institute of Clinical Immunology and Infectious Diseases

• Tiredness

  .

• A few days after the onset of fever, a

  rash

  (

  skin lesion)

  develops, often starting on the face and then spreading to other parts of the body.

Monkey pox on the skin

One of the most striking characteristics of

is the

it produces.

"There is a certain

, but here we must emphasize that

," explains Raúl Ortiz de Lejarazu, professor of microbiology at the University of Valladolid and former director of the National Center for Influenza from Valladolid.

This skin rash that

, including the genitals.

The

have the following evolution: "

, which after two or three days becomes a

(less than a centimeter lesion with well-defined edges). Later it becomes a kind of

and later it is scarified", explains Ortiz de Lejarazu.

"The rash evolves and goes through various stages.

, before finally forming a scab that later falls off," the British authorities describe.

It usually produces

, from two to four according to Seimc.

However, in some cases serious illness can occur.

How is monkeypox spread?

The

In general, person-to-person transmission is limited.

From the Seimc it is stated that

.

Viral excretion through

may represent another source of exposure.

In the latter case, most of the infections produced in Spain to date are framed.

What is the incubation and contagion period of this virus?

The

period (interval between infection and onset of symptoms) for monkeypox

Furthermore, it is usually a self-limited illness with

Severe cases occur more frequently among children and their evolution depends on the degree of exposure to the

, the patient's health status and the severity of complications.

If most cases have been among men who have sex with men, is it a sexually transmitted infection?

No. Experts insist that it

.

The main route of infection common to current cases is through

, but it can also be spread in the ways described above.

Despite this, the UKHSA

to be alert to any rash or unusual injury."

What is the treatment for monkeypox?

There is no vaccine or specific treatment available.

Treatment is symptomatic and supportive, including prevention and treatment of secondary bacterial infections.

The people under study in Spain evolve positively and are

although they must maintain close surveillance since they may require hospital admission.

Does the smallpox vaccine serve or protect against the simian virus?

Since 1980 there has been no vaccination against

, understood as the infectious disease of humans.

"

that indicate that

", explains Ortiz de Lejarazu.

How did monkeypox arise?

It first appeared in humans

(then called Zaire) in a nine-year-old boy, in a region where smallpox had been eradicated in 1968.

Since then,

, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it is considered endemic.

In 2017, Nigeria suffered the largest documented outbreak, approximately 40 years after the last confirmed cases.

the spring of 2003, marking

the first time the disease had been detected outside of the African continent.

Most of the patients had had close contact with domestic prairie dogs that had been infected by African rodents imported into the country.

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