During this past weekend, Spain has registered two deaths from monkey poxin the Valencian Community and Andalusia.
Our country is the first in Europe, and the second in the world, with the most cases of monkeypox. According to the latest report from (RENAVE), there are a total of 4,298 confirmed cases. Madrid is in the lead, with 1,656, followed by Catalonia with 1,406 and Andalusia with 498.
As explained by Health, of all the patients notified, 4,081 are men and 64 are women. 120 of them have been hospitalized and two deaths have been reported.
The symptoms They are similar to the flu and include the typical muscle aches, fever, chills, exhaustion, headache, back pain, swollen lymph nodes…
And, of course, the typical rash so characteristic of smallpox, which in this case usually begins on the face to spread to other areas of the body, especially the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.
However, a new study published in the medical journal , concludes that the symptoms have changed since the first case (outside Africa) was reported on May 7 in London.
Patients where the disease is endemic (Cameroon, Republic of Congo or Sierra Leone) do not present the same symptoms as those who are now infected.
The findings are based on the study of 197 patients from the United Kingdom and diagnosed between May 13 and July 1 of this year. Eight of them had more than 100 skin lesions and 29, not a single .
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“Twenty-two presented an injury: 12 involved the genitals and seven the perianal area. Twenty-seven participants described mucocutaneous manifestations as pruritic and 27 reported a concomitant generalized maculopapular rash.
The majority (86.3%) reported systemic symptoms, that is, they affect the entire body, as occurs, for example, with diabetes or .
new unknown symptoms
And the most common symptoms were fever, lymphadenopathy and myalgia (muscle pain).
Thirty-eight percent of the patients developed these symptoms after the onset of the mucocutaneous lesions. 71 of the participants also had rectal pain or painful bowel movements, 33 sore throats, and 31 penile swelling.
Therefore, doctors are advised to consider monkeypox infection in those who present with these symptoms.
“Those with confirmed monkeypox infection with extensive penile lesions or severe rectal pain should be considered for continued review or hospital treatment,” the specialists emphasize.
The solitary lesions and swollen tonsils were not known to be typical symptoms of monkeypox infection.
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“Single lesions can be confused with other conditions, such as syphilis, lymphogranuloma venereum (sexually transmitted disease caused by a specific strain of chlamydia), or ingrown hair follicles,” the authors explain.
The swollen tonsilsfor their part, “could be confused with bacterial tonsillitis.”
The researchers note that “only a quarter of this group had known contact with someone with confirmed monkeypox infection, raising the possibility of asymptomatic transmission or paucisymptomatic”.
Regarding the new symptoms identified in this study, it represents progress “for contact tracing, public health advice, and ongoing infection control and isolation measures.”
How is it spread?
Monkeypox virus (MPXV) belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus, like the Variola Virusand is zoonotic and endemic to western and central Africa.
The NHS said at the time that the infection could be spread from infected wild animals in parts of western and central Africa.
And contrary to what can be deduced from its name, those who spread this disease are mainly wild mice. And to a lesser extent, some monkeys and squirrels.
It is even believed that It can be spread through contaminated objects such as clothing or bedding.
As for contagion between humans, the virus enters the body through breaks in the skin, respiratory tract, eyes, nose, and mouth.