In particular, the Committee must decide on the seriousness of the resurgence of monkeypox cases, and on its classification as a “public health emergency of international interest”, the highest alert level of the organization.
It will meet for the second time, while at its previous meeting on June 23 it had ruled out raising the alert level.
The European continent concentrates the majority of cases
Since then, the number of confirmed cases in the world has increased considerably: the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), author of the most recent data on the subject, now lists 11,068 confirmed cases in 65 countries.
Europe remains by far the epicenter of the current wave, with 8,238 cases in 35 countries, according to figures from the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CEDC), dated July 12.
The bar of 500 cases has been exceeded in five European countries: in Spain, the most affected country on the Old Continent with 2,034 confirmed cases, followed by the United Kingdom (1,735), Germany (1,636), France (721) and the Netherlands (503). ).
“Stop streaming”
The head of the UN health agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has repeatedly expressed concern about the current spread of the disease, usually confined to certain African countries, and urged member countries to take appropriate measures to limit pollution.
“I emphasize once again that we must work to stop transmission and advise governments to implement contact tracing to monitor and contain the virus and provide assistance to people in isolation,” explained Dr. Tedros this Tuesday during a conference. press in Geneva.
A distant cousin of smallpox, but considered much less dangerous, monkeypox usually clears up on its own in two to three weeks.
new symptoms
However, its spread outside the ten African countries where the virus is endemic has been accompanied by a change in the most common symptoms.
According to the first study on the subject, published in early July in The Lancet Infectious Diseases and relating to British patients, febrile episodes are less frequent and shorter than the cases recorded in Africa, while skin lesions are concentrated on the genitals
Rashes can also appear in the mouth, says Public Health France, which reports cases of sore throats and body aches, as well as sore lymph nodes, which can swell in the neck or stomach.
WHO recommends vaccinating only caregivers
If the vast majority of European and American cases refer to men who have had sex with men, they are not the only ones affected, as some cases have also been detected in children and immunosuppressed people.
Le vaccination against human variole, dont certains countries – notamment les Etats-Unis – ont conservé doses après son éradication en 1980, pourrait être réutilisé contra la variole du singe, mais l’OMS préconise de ne vacciner que les professionnels de santé pour the moment.
Source: BFM TV
