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Should we worry about monkeypox? Everything you need to know about an old virus only detected in endemic countries, that has reappeared and spread in different areas. Are group sex or multiple relationships sources of contagion? Is this a looming bioterrorist attack? There are vaccines and effective treatments, and the specialists seem confident… are you?
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
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Virus Resurrection
The disease known as “monkeypox” made headlines in May 2022. The aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic was still fresh: lockdowns, loss of lives, millions of businesses ruined and psychological effects in people of all ages. Specialists say monkeypox is not that dangerous or deadly. However, the alarms went off: it could be the next pandemic.
Smallpox was one of the most devastating diseases for humanity, and the fact that it is a “new” form of this disease contributes to sounding alerts. Smallpox is the only disease that is considered totally eradicated, and for this reason since the 1980s the world population was no longer vaccinated. But with the spread of monkeypox throughout the world, this could change.
The first reported cases in 2022 in Europe were among the gay community, sparking new alarms about the possibility of a sexually transmitted disease. That idea also reminded what had happened with HIV a few decades before.
Two of the main actors in the Covid-19 pandemic raised their voices again: Bill Gates and the WHO. Both warned that smallpox could circulate again, either by natural mutation or because of bioterrorist attacks. It was known that – once again – a simulation exercise was carried out just a few weeks before: in that scenario, a bioterrorist attack with the monkeypox virus was reported in May 2022.
The first case of monkeypox in humans had been detected about 50 years earlier, so it is not a new disease. However, the 2022 outbreak has a different dynamic that needs to be evaluated in its specificity. How serious could it be? We are discussing the possibility of giving away national sovereignties to a global health committee, and we are constantly being warned that the next pandemic will arrive at any moment. These are only a few of the reasons why we need to gather all the available information about this disease.
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Monkeypox
It is a zoonotic virus, that is, it is transmitted from animals to humans. It belongs to theOrthopoxvirusfamily and there are two types: Central African (Congo Basin) and West African. The Central African variant is more easily transmitted and more virulent. The variant that spread throughout the world in 2022 is that of West Africa, according to the WHO1. Both variants have historically been observed in jungle or rural areas, although in recent decades cases have been reported in urban areas as well.
