The Centers for United States Disease Control (CDC, for its acronym in English) reported this Friday that they have detected for the first time two cases of monkeypox in children.
In a statement, the CDC said one of the infected minor is a California resident for less than two years, while the other was in the US, but does not usually reside in the country.
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The health officials indicated that both cases are related and that children were most likely infected at home by transmission from a family member.
Both have symptoms, but are in good health and are receiving treatment.
Monkeypox does not spread easily between humans: contagion occurs through close contact with infected skin, body fluids, or respiratory droplets from an infected person with whom they are kept sexual intercourse.
It is a virus other than smallpox and it’s streaming out of your usual endemic area (Central and West Africa), therefore, it is necessary to exercise strict epidemiological control over it.
A person is considered contagious from the onset of the enanthem – lesions on the oral mucosa – until the lesions heal and a new layer of skin forms.
For this reason, infected people should remain isolated until all skin lesions have healed, and especially avoid close contact with immunosuppressed people.
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The incubation period can range from 5 to 21 days, and the clinical picture usually begins with a combination of symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, lesions features in skin and swollen glands.
Regarding its severity, epidemiologists point out that the cases of the current outbreak are being milder than those described in West Africa, and that they are barely generating hospital admissions. However, remember, lesions on the skin and mucous membranes are very annoying.
