The world is waiting and concerned about the behavior of monkeypox, given the experience that has been had in the last two years with the covid-19 pandemic.
(Colombia is in the ‘containment phase’ of monkeypox).
With data from the World Health Organization (WHO), There are currently 16,000 cases reported in 75 countries, of which only five infections have culminated in death.
Given the reasons why the virus was declared an international public health emergency, there is a risk of further international spread, although this remains lowthe risk to human health and the increase in cases in the European region.
For his part, the general director of the organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that, “We have an outbreak that has spread rapidly around the world, through new modes of transmission, about which we know very little and which meets the criteria of the International Health Regulations. For all of these reasons, I have decided that the global outbreak of monkeypox represents a public health emergency of international concern.”
(Approved monkeypox vaccine in Europe).
Compared to the confirmed cases in the Region of the Americas, with data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in the north, The United States is the country with the most infections in the region with 2,582, followed by Canada with 681 cases.
It is followed by Brazil, with 592 infections, as well as Peru with 143. The fifth country, with the highest number of cases of monkeypox, belongs to Mexico, which confirms 54. Likewise, there are Chile (20), Argentina (18), Puerto Rico (11), Colombia (10) and the Dominican Republic (3).
According to Julio Chacon, an epidemiologist at the Reina Sofía Clinic, the international public health emergency is a “alert”, Given the “It is a virus that has been known since the 1970s, which has presented cases in Africa. However, over the years we have lost immunity to smallpox and although it is not a deadly disease, we do not believe that it will reach the dimensions of a pandemic like that of covid-19 ”, said.
COLOMBIAN SITUATION
Given the recommendations and declarations of the WHO, the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Fernando Ruiz, assured that the country currently has “confirmation” of 11 cases of monkeypox infection, of which 10 originated outside the country.
Given this result, the portfolio manager stated “Right now we are in a containment phase, which represents a very important opportunity for the country.”
Likewise, he stressed that monkeypox is a disease that is characterized, in this last appearance, by its low lethality, “it is below 0.03%” and it is “relatively low contagion” compared to covid-19.
When in doubt whether the country is capable of identifying cases of the virus, the minister said that, “Right now we have a fairly extensive diagnostic network enabled, the diagnosis of the disease is made by molecular biology (PCR test) and that same network can support the diagnosis”.
Regarding the management of the virus, the head of the Ministry, stressed that at this time it is being delivered to the country’s EPS, the guidelines so that within its care network “at least one reference center is designated” for the care of people with the disease and make an effective diagnosis.
And facing what is to come, the minister summoned the EPS to specific training in the care model and the smallpox management plan.
VIRUS SYMPTOMS
According to the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz Gómez, “Monkeypox is a disease characterized by the presence of lesions on the skin, similar to chickenpox, which appear and last approximately two to three weeks and which becomes viral mainly through contact, contact with injuries, with fluids and it has also been evidenced by sexual transmission”.
For his part, the epidemiologist at the Reina Sofía Clinic, Julio Chacón, assures that the fact that the disease is transmissible by contact and by aerosols, does not have a high degree of lethality. He likewise stated that “Symptoms that leave no sequels or complications”.
DIANA K. RODRIGUEZ T.
