Also, in October kicks off the flu season. In other words, the health system has to be ready in the coming months to deal with cases of three viruses: the influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and monkeypox.
“Proportionally it is a very manageable thing. But that is why it is very important that cases are diagnosed, that doctors identify them in time and that they are properly monitored so that they do not get complicated and do not have so much pain and can take the disease at home, isolated, without infecting anyone. more,” Rodríguez explained.
“Yes, it is a virus that can affect everyone, yes, it is, but mainly and, according to what is being described, the risk is located in a specific community, and information work must be intensified, of prevention, of health promotion in these communities, to try to contain the epidemic in these groups with public health interventions and, in any case, be aware of the rest of the population. We are facing a problem that the best thing is to stop it, ”he said.
Ricardo Baruch, a public health expert at UNAM, considered that Mexico has been slow to declare a health emergency due to this disease, while several young people develop injuries, because until now the population with the highest risk of contagion are men who have sex with men.
This represents another challenge: it is necessary to attend to this population without discrimination, but with effective measures to prevent further infections. Until now, the specialist assured on his Twitter account, the underreporting of monkeypox cases “is enormous because many people do not want to go to health services for fear of discrimination.”
In other cases, he added, health professionals still do not have the necessary information and training to identify the disease and confuse diagnosis and treatment: they prescribe medications for herpes or syphilis.
It has been 20 days since the WHO declared that the #Geekpox It is an international health emergency and here in Mexico we still do not have adequate measures to inform, attend to or prevent new cases.
Meanwhile, everywhere we go we hear of more kids with injuries.
– Ricardo Baruch D. (@baruchdom)
August 13, 2022
Specialist Mauricio Rodríguez explained that the declaration of a health emergency depends on the number of cases that are reported, deaths and the speed of spread. But, above all, it allows raising the alert level in the population, in the medical profession, in the health authorities and implies some administrative and legal changes that allow the health authorities to access special resources to deal with the epidemic. For example, having enough money to access medical treatment and a possible vaccine.
