Argentina Sunday night (22) recorded its first suspected case of monkeypox, a disease commonly found in Africa but spreading to Europe and North America. The information was verified by the Argentine Ministry of Health.
The probable patient is a resident of Buenos Aires, who at the weekend went to a clinic with pustules on the body, the most characteristic symptom of the disease. The man also had a fever.
Isolated and being treated for its symptoms, the samples taken are analyzed by experts and researchers.
The Buenos Aires resident has a recent travel history to Spain, a country where smallpox cases have been confirmed, and returned to Argentina on 16 May.
Doctors and scientists in Buenos Aires formed a working group to coordinate clinical and epidemiological actions to confirm or exclude the case. They will also suggest measures to control possible transfers.
cases around the world
By Saturday 21, the UN (United Nations) had a record of 92 confirmed patients with this type of smallpox and 28 suspected cases in countries where the disease was considered non-endemic.
Monkeypox is a contagious disease that is generally mild and endemic in parts of western and central Africa. It spreads through close contact and can be contained relatively easily with measures such as isolation and hygiene.
“What is happening now is that it entered the population as a sexual form, as a genital form, and spread and increased its transmission worldwide, just like sexually transmitted infections,” said David Heymann, author of the study. An expert from WHO (World Health Organization) and infectious diseases told Reuters.
Heymann said an international committee of experts met via videoconference to review what needs to be investigated about the outbreak and communicate it to the public, including whether there is asymptomatic spread, who is most at risk, and the various modes of transmission.
But the committee is not the group to recommend declaring a public health emergency of international importance, the WHO’s highest form of alert applied to the Covid-19 pandemic.
*With information from Agencia Brasil
source: Noticias
