What exactly is monkeypox?
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is an uncommon disease caused by the mpox virus. This virus typically infects rodents like rats and mice, as well as nonhuman primates like monkeys. However, it can happen to people.
Mpox is most common in Central and West Africa. Cases outside of Africa are frequently the result of:
- Traveling internationally
- Animals from other countries
- Close contact with an mpox-infected animal or person
What are the symptoms of mpox, also known as monkeypox, and how does mpox look?
Mpox symptoms might appear 5 to 21 days after exposure. The incubation period is the time between being exposed and developing symptoms.
Mpox symptoms can last 2 to 4 weeks and include the following:
- Fever
- Rashes on the skin
- Headache
- Backaches and muscle pains
- Chills
- Tiredness
- Lymph nodes swollen
A skin rash appears 1 to 4 days after you develop a fever. The mpox rash frequently begins on the face, hands, or feet before spreading to other regions of the body. The mpox rash progresses through several stages. Flat patches develop into blisters. Then the blisters fill with pus, scab over and fall off over a period of 2 to 4 weeks.
You can spread mpox while you are sick. So from the time your symptoms begin to the time your rash and scabs heal.
If you develop certain rashes unexpectedly, there is a low chance that they are monkeypox. However, you must still get yourself evaluated. In India, looking for the best hospital in Bangalore, Mumbai, or Delhi is a good option as these cities offer cost effective treatment and house several specialists.
How is the mpox virus transmitted?
Mpox is caused by the mpox virus. Close contact with an infected animal or person distributes the virus. It can also spread when a person handles objects that have been in contact with someone who has mpox, such as blankets.
The mpox virus travels via the following routes:
- Direct contact with a person with mpox’s rashes, scabs, or body fluids.
- Close contact with respiratory droplets from an infected person for an extended period of time (greater than four hours). Sexual interaction is included in this.
- Clothes, sheets, blankets, or other objects that have come into contact with an infected person’s rashes or bodily fluids.
- A pregnant woman who is infected with the mpox virus can pass it on to her foetus.
- Mpox transfers from an animal to a human via:
- Bites or scratches from animals
- Cooked wild game products derived from sick animals
- Direct contact with mpox-infected animals’ bodily fluids or rashes
What can I do to avoid becoming infected with the mpox virus or transmitting it?
Take the following precautions to avoid infection with or spread of the mpox virus:
- Avoid close contact with anyone who has a rash that resembles mpox.
- Handling clothes, linens, blankets, or other materials that have come into contact with an infected animal or person should be avoided.
- Separate mpox patients from healthy persons.
- After any contact with an infected person or animal, thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water.
- Avoid animals that may be infected with the virus.
- Some smallpox vaccinations, such as the ACAM2000 and Jynneos, can protect against mpox. Because smallpox and mpox are caused by similar viruses, these vaccines can be used to prevent mpox.
People who have been exposed to mpox may be advised by their doctors to get vaccinated. Some persons who are at risk of being exposed to the virus at work, such as lab employees, may also be immunised.
At this moment, the CDC does not recommend that everyone get vaccinated against mpox.
What is the mpox treatment?
The majority of mpox patients are treated to alleviate their symptoms. Care may include adequate fluid intake and pain management.
If you get mpox, isolate yourself at home in a room away from family and pets until the rash and scabs heal.
There is no approved treatment for mpox. Some antiviral medications used to treat smallpox, such as tecovirimat (TPOXX) or brincidofovir, may be used to treat mpox (Tembexa). Care providers may deliver vaccinia immune globulin, which contains antibodies from persons who have received the smallpox vaccine, to those who are unlikely to respond to the vaccine.
What are the mpox complications?
Complications of Mpox may include:
- Scars on the face, arms, and legs are severe.
- Blindness
- Other diseases
- In rare situations, death
- Clade II of the mpox virus, which is spreading in the 2022 outbreak, seldom causes death.
