Recently, many non-epidemic countries in the world have reported cases of monkeypox , which has attracted global attention and community transmission. Taiwan and Hong Kong, China have successively reported imported monkeypox cases. On September 16, 2022, Chongqing City reported the first imported monkeypox case in the mainland.
In order to prepare for the medical response to monkey pox in advance and improve the ability to identify and standardize diagnosis and treatment in early clinical stage, please read the following relevant knowledge about "monkey pox" carefully!
01 What is monkey pox?
Monkeypox is a zoonotic virus disease caused by monkey pox virus (MPXV) infection. It was first discovered in monkeys in 1958. has skin blisters or rashes as the main symptoms, mainly manifested as a large-scale "bean-like rash" on the head, face and body, so it is named "monkeypox".
Monkeypox is not a "newly infectious disease". Human infection was reported as early as 1970, and it has since become prevalent in Central and West African countries. In addition to monkeys, rodents are natural hosts of monkeypox virus, including squirrels, groundhog , rabbits, etc.
02 How does monkeypox spread?
Monkeypox virus mainly invades the human body through the mucosa and broken skin. People are bitten by infected animals or directly contact the blood, body fluids, and monkeypox lesions of infected animals. People are mainly transmitted through direct close contact and exhaled droplets. In addition, monkeypox can be transmitted through mother-to-child transmission and homosexual sexual behavior.
03 Symptoms after infection with monkeypox
After infection with monkeypox virus, symptoms such as fever, chills, headache, drowsiness , fatigue, back pain and myalgia will occur. Most patients have neck, armpits, groin and other parts lymph nodes swelling . The rash usually occurs 1-3 days after the onset, first appearing on the face, gradually spreading to the limbs and other parts. monkeypox is self-limiting, and most infected people will recover within a few weeks without treatment.
04 How to prevent monkeypox
There is currently no specific medicine and vaccine against monkeypox virus, but World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that vaccination against smallpox virus can prevent monkeypox to a certain extent.
recommends that the public take the following personal protection: do not eat wild animals or game; do not travel to countries with monkeypox epidemics; stay away from animals that may carry monkeypox virus, avoid contact with animals of unknown origin and items they have been in contact with, and do a good job of hand hygiene after contacting people or animals that have been infected or suspected of being infected, such as washing hands with soap and running water, or using alcohol hand sanitizer.
Returnees in the epidemic area should pay attention to self-health monitoring. When symptoms such as rashes occur, they should take the initiative to seek medical attention and inform the doctor of the epidemic area travel history. If you have a history of contact and exposure abroad and have not yet developed symptoms, you can actively contact the local CDC for consultation and reporting.
Editor: Qu Qiuyi
Additional review: Wang Sheng, Zhou Youman
Review: Cai Zhenfeng
Source: Xiangzhou District Health Bureau
