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People with symptoms of monkeypox should refrain from having sex, the British health authorities recommend, as the country reports 179 confirmed cases of the disease amid a rare global outbreak.
The guide advises those who have been infected with monkeypox to use condoms for at least eight weeks after the infection subsides as a “precautionary” measure, while public health experts learn more about how the virus spreads among people. people.
People who have monkeypox or think they may have it “should avoid contact with other people until their injuries have healed and their scabs have dried,” the guide says.
The World Health Organization has said it is unlikely the smallpox outbreak could turn into a pandemic, but warned that steps must be taken quickly to stop the spread.
The WHO said on Sunday that nearly two dozen countries had reported a total of 257 confirmed cases and about 120 suspected cases of monkeypox. In Britain, which has the highest number of confirmed cases of smallpox in the world, according to the WHO, health authorities have suggested new measures for health workers and the public.
What is the monkeypox, the rare virus that has now been confirmed in the US and Europe?
Rosamund Lewis, WHO’s technical leader on monkeypox, said in a briefing on Monday that most confirmed cases have been identified in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, and that the risk for in the general population it is “low.”
“This group of people [men who have sex with men] they are the ones most affected by the cases today, and the idea is obviously to stop the spread so that it does not affect the general population, “he said.” That being said, anyone can be at risk. “
Lewis said “the world has a chance to stop this outbreak” by identifying confirmed or potential cases, isolating them and tracking their close contacts and monitoring those that have been exposed, which according to WHO guidelines do not need stay home if they show no symptoms.
“At the moment, we are not worried about a global pandemic,” he said. “We are concerned that people may acquire this infection through high-risk exposure if they do not have the information they need to protect themselves.”
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The new British government guide is designed in part to help those who have or are exposed to the disease, as well as a summary of what is known and not known about the virus. The document indicates that most infections so far have occurred through direct and close contact.
People with smallpox can be isolated at home, as long as they are monitored by local health authorities, according to the guide. Their close contacts should not be quarantined if they are asymptomatic, but they will be monitored and can be told to “isolate for 21 days if necessary”.
People with confirmed or suspected smallpox should “refrain from having sex while they are symptomatic, including the period of early onset of symptoms and while there are injuries,” she says.
He adds that “there is currently no evidence of monkeypox in genital excretions available”, but recommends “as a precaution” that those who have had monkeypox “use condoms for 8 weeks after infection”, noting that the guide could change.
The British Agency for Health Safety, one of the departments behind the guide, has begun offering a smallpox vaccine, a new version of which has been approved in the United States for use in monkeypox. close contacts in confirmed cases “to reduce the risk of smallpox.” symptomatic infection and serious illness “.
Studies suggest that the smallpox vaccine is at least 85% effective against smallpox, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The United States stopped vaccinating people against smallpox, which was eradicated worldwide in 1980, as a matter of routine in the 1970s.
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The WHO has not recommended universal vaccination against monkeypox, although it says countries may want to vaccinate close contacts after they have been exposed to the virus or to health workers who may be exposed in the future.
At Monday’s briefing, Lewis of the WHO said it “would be unfortunate” to allow the monkey’s smallpox to be “established as … an infection that can be transmitted from human to human and exploit the gap of immunity left by smallpox 40 years ago “. ”
“Therefore, the WHO is very interested, with the history of smallpox eradication, in stopping this outbreak as soon as possible,” he said.