– We had approximately 10 suspected cases of monkeypox; the samples are being tested. June 10 is the day when we have the first case – said the head of the Ministry of Health during a press conference held at the Medical University of Łódź. (Quoted after dziennik.pl).

What is monkeypox?

Monkeypox is a zoonotic infectious disease. Under favorable conditions (close contact, including intimate contact), it can also spread from person to person. It is caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), belonging to the Orthopoxvirus genus. The course of monkeypox cases observed in Europe is mild or moderate; no deaths caused by the disease have been recorded so far.

Ministry of Health: – According to current scientific information, the infection does not have an asymptomatic course, as occurs in the case of COVID-19.

What are the sources of infection and routes of transmission?

  • from animals: direct contact with infected animals through their blood or bodily fluids (mainly squirrels and rabbits, but also infected mice or rats), or as a result of being bitten by an infected animal;
  • from humans: through droplets or blood and secretions during direct contact with an infected person, through mucous membranes.

What are the initial symptoms of the disease?

  • high fever, above 38.50ºC
  • generalized or localized enlargement of the lymph nodes (unlike in chickenpox)
  • headache
  • back pain
  • significant weakness.

What further symptoms appear later?

  • After 1–3 days, the patient develops a rash (in the following order: spots, papules, vesicles, pustules, scabs).
  • The rash usually begins on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body.
  • The sick person is infectious while the rash is present.
  • The rash persists for 2–4 weeks.
  • The scars left after the scabs fall off as a result of the rash are very deep, but they disappear over a period of 1–4 years.

At the same time, on May 23, 2022, the WHO stated in its guidelines for the laboratory diagnosis of monkeypox that the clinical presentation of cases in Europe may differ from that described above. Therefore, when deciding whether diagnostics for MPXV are necessary, both the clinical presentation and epidemiological information should be taken into account, assessing the overall likelihood of infection.

Is there a vaccine?

Ministry: – There is no vaccine against monkeypox. The third-generation ImvanexTM vaccine against smallpox, registered in the European Union (in 2013), containing a modified Ankara-MVA vaccinia virus strain, is not registered for use in preventing monkeypox. It is also not available for retail sale.

More information is available on the Ministry of Health website. What do you think? We invite you to discuss.