How deadly is monkeypox?

December 17, 2022

From all accounts, it is obvious that Monkeypox is still very much around in many African countries. Kindly let me know how deadly is the disease.

Wemimo (by SMS)

Monkey Pox is not a deadly disease. Most people usually recover as the disease is usually self-limiting. Death rates in monkeypox disease are much lower than in smallpox. In places having better accessibility to supportive care, deaths due to monkeypox are rare. Without treatment 1-3% of people with known infections have died. But there is a possibility of people becoming blind, disabled, and even dead. Children, pregnant women, and people with suppressed immune systems are at a higher risk. It was recently declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization. The WHO last issued a global health emergency in January 2020 in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. Previously, monkeypox was declared a pandemic by the World Health network. The infection causes a flu-like illness. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle ache, swollen lymph nodes, and skin rashes all over the body. Although monkeypox is not related to chickenpox, the characteristic monkeypox rash looks a lot like it. It starts as red spots on the mouth and face and then spreads to the arms and legs. The virus can spread both from animal to human and from human to human. If a person is bitten by an infected animal or the person comes in direct contact with the infected animal’s bodily fluids, transmission from animal to human occurs. The routes of human to human transmission can be: any form of physical contact with the infected person, breathing airborne particles, or contact with contaminated surfaces or objects. In other words transmission from human to human can occur by droplet respiration and contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids. More importantly, monkeypox is not considered contagious before people develop symptoms, which makes it harder for people to unknowingly spread it. Although it currently has no cure. Prevention is simply by regular hand washing and avoiding close contact with sick people and animals.

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