The strain present in Spain generally causes mild effects and is much less contagious than covid, as it requires close and prolonged contact between people, according to the coordinator of the international health unit of the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, Judit Villar.
In statements to Efe, Villar has indicated that, from the first cases identified in Madrid, “it is to be expected that throughout the days they will appear in other communities”, for this reason “it is essential to be alert” so that the system can diagnose cases and know how to treat them.
In any case, the also associate doctor of the infectious diseases service of the Hospital del Mar has remarked that, of the two that exist, the imported strain is the “mild” one and “in general the prognosis is favourable.
In addition, some studies suggest that vaccinated people have greater protection from , an immunogen that only those over 40 years of age have because it was stopped when it was eradicated.
Villar has specified in any case that “the contagion rate is much lower than covid”, since, although it is true that there may be transmission through the respiratory tract, it is through secretions and not through aerosols.
In this sense, smallpox requires “close and prolonged” contacts for contagion, which can be through drops of saliva, mucosa, sexual fluids are not ruled out -although this has not been proven-; and above all through skin lesions, which are “very infectious”, according to the specialist.
In a first phase, smallpox can cause fever, general malaise, joint pain and intense headache, symptoms that can be confused with other viruses, but after a few days these characteristic skin lesions can appear and are concentrated on the face , soles of hands and feet, and genitals.
Thus, “we must be very attentive to the characteristic skin lesions, because we can detect cases and cut chains of transmission”, the doctor indicated.
Monkeypox -so named because it has passed from this animal to humans- has a long incubation period, from 5 to 21 days, and there are patients who take three or four weeks until the crusts of the skin lesions disappear, at which point which are no longer infectious, so a contagion may require “isolation periods of one month,” according to Villar.
Incubation and symptoms of the disease
In humans, monkeypox symptoms are similar to smallpox symptoms, although somewhat milder. They start with fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, chills, and exhaustion. The main difference between the symptoms of human smallpox and monkeypox is that the latter causes the lymph nodes to swell (lymphadenopathy), while the former does not.
The incubation period for monkeypox is usually 7-14 days, but can be as low as 5 days and as high as 21 days. It is normal to develop a rash, which often starts on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body, particularly the hands and feet. Before long, the rash changes and goes through different stages before scabbing over and finally falling off.
The illness usually lasts 2 to 4 weeks. Transmission is believed to be through saliva or respiratory excretions, or by contact with lesion exudate or scab material. Viral excretion through the feces may also represent another source of exposure.
The available data suggest that African rodents act as a natural reservoir. The monkeypox virus is capable of infecting squirrels, rats, mice, monkeys, prairie dogs, and of course .