UK health officials have cautioned that the country is facing a “significant” increase in infections, and that the government’s reaction is “critical” in halting the spread. Meanwhile, Belgium has begun monkeypox quarantines.
After three instances of monkeypox were reported in Belgium, the country became the first to implement a compulsory 21-day monkeypox quarantine for people who come into contact with the virus.
According to the Daily Mail, the infections were all connected to a festival in Antwerp, Belgium’s port city, and Belgium is now one of 14 nations where the virus has been verified (in addition to suspected, but not confirmed cases in Austria and Greece).
The recent spread of monkeypox, according to US President Joe Biden, is “something that everybody should be concerned about.”
“It is a concern in that if it were to spread it would be consequential,” he said from Osan Air Base in South Korea, where he was talking with troops ahead of his Asia visit to Japan.
According to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Biden is getting daily briefings, and the US has vaccinations “available to be deployed.” according to the traveling press pool.
Meanwhile, UK health officials have cautioned that the country is facing a “significant” increase in infections, and that the government’s reaction is “critical” in halting the spread.
Dr Susan Hopkins, a chief medical adviser to the UK Health Security Agency, today also warned that monkeypox is spreading through community transmission in the UK with more cases being detected daily.
Sajid Javid yesterday revealed another 11 Britons had tested positive for the virus, taking the total to 20.
The cases include a British child currently in a critical condition at a London hospital, while a further 100 infections have been recorded in Europe.
-Daily Mail
“There is going to be more diagnoses over the next week,” stated Dr. Claire Dewsnap, president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV. “How many is hard to say. What worries me the most is there are infections across Europe, so this has already spread.”
“How many is hard to say. What worries me the most is there are infections across Europe, so this has already spread,” she added. “Getting on top of all those people’s contacts is a massive job.”
Dewsnap added that “It could be really significant numbers over the next two or three weeks.”
Monkeypox is an uncommon viral virus that originated in West and Central Africa’s tropical regions. It is spread through close physical contact with an infected person, even sexual activity. The symptoms are typically moderate, and most people recover without treatment within a few weeks.
Approximately 1% of people infected with the current strain will die.
“We are detecting more cases on a daily basis and I’d like to thank all of those people who are coming forward for testing to sexual health clinics, to the GPs and emergency department,” said Dr Hopkins.
And asked if there is community transmission in the UK, she said: ‘Absolutely, we are finding cases that have no identified contact with an individual from west Africa, which is what we’ve seen previously in this country.
‘The community transmission is largely centred in urban areas and we are predominantly seeing it in individuals who self-identify as gay or bisexual, or other men who have sex with men.”
Asked why it is being found in that demographic, she said: ‘That’s because of the frequent close contacts they may have.
-Daily Mail
Fever, headache, muscle and back aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, tiredness, and, of course, lesions are some of the symptoms. In the most recent outbreak, no one has died from the virus.