Cases of monkey pox continue to rise in Spain: 4,577. Outside our borders, a total of 10,594 positive monkeypox cases have been reported in Europe, with Germany (2,677), the United Kingdom (2,469) and France (1,955) being the countries with the most infected patients.
The Ministry of Health has asked the autonomous communities quickly to inoculate the vaccines against monkeypox, of which Spain will receive 7,000 more throughout this week.
Our country has registered two deaths from monkeypox. The first death was confirmed last Friday, a man residing in the Valencian Community, as a result of a encephalitis.
The second, another male, in Córdoba, due to meningoencephalitis, a mixed picture of meningitis and encephalitis. It is being studied whether monkeypox is behind this disease.
The It is the inflammation of the structures that make up the brain (cerebrum, cerebellum and brainstem) and it can affect other tissues close to the brain such as the meninges.
According to data from the each year some 1,200 new cases of encephalitis are diagnosed in Spain.
It has an index of mortality between 5 and 20% of cases, and leaves sequelae in more than 20% of patients who overcome it. These data indicate that this pathology requires more attention despite the fact that, as indicated by specialists, it is a underdiagnosed disease.
What are the symptoms of encephalitis?
The most common symptoms of encephalitis are:
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Fever.
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Intense headache.
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Disorientation, drowsiness.
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Language disorders.
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behavioral changes.
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Convulsive crisis.
These are very non-specific manifestations of the disease and that is one of the reasons that, according to neurologists, makes diagnosis very difficult.
In addition, as a large number of cases are benign and disappear after a short time, only the most serious cases are diagnosed.
And, as explained by Dr. Marta Guillansecretary of the SEN Critical and Intensive Neurology Study Group:
Due to its potential transmission capacity, to cause fatal outcomes and the important sequelae that it can cause, it represents a serious health problem.
Another of the difficulties that accompanies this disease is the large number of elements that can cause encephalitis.
In fact, only in 50% of cases is the agent identified than the cause, and the most common are all viruses. Specifically herpes, enteroviruses and arboviruses.
To date, the herpes simplex virus, Epstein-Barr, HIV, and measles, mumps, polio, or rubella viruses (in unvaccinated people) are the most common cause of encephalitis in our country, as are the viruses that cause of cases with the highest probability of death in the world.
More than 100 viruses have been identified that are capable of infecting the nervous system.
Prevention, key in encephalitis
Early detection is one of the issues that the doctor emphasizes the most when talking about prevention in this type of disease.
Any acute inflammation of the central nervous system, such as encephalitis, should be considered a medical emergency, since a delay in its diagnosis can lead to a high rate of neurological complications.
And it is that when the diagnosis of encephalitis is made at the first signs of infection, the percentage of patients who evolve favorably increases significantly.
Among the groups most likely to suffer from encephalitis are children under one year of age, the elderly, as well as those with pathologies related to the immune system.
Regarding prevention, and taking into account that the most common cause of this disease is infections, there are some measures that can be useful to prevent the entry of infectious agents into our body.
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We must avoid ingesting water and food in poor condition
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Beware of insect bites, you have to protect yourself from them.
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Caution with animal bites.
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When we travel we must find out about the necessary vaccinations at the destination.
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Respect the vaccination schedule for the little ones.
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And if we live with pets, we must immunize them too.