Mpox Vaccine & Prevention: The Covid pandemic is not over in the world and meanwhile the threat of a new pandemic has increased. WHO has declared a global health emergency regarding ampox, because this disease, which was limited to African countries for many decades, has started spreading to other countries. Recently, cases of the new strain of ampox, clade Ib, have been found in Pakistan and Sweden, which has increased the tension of other countries. According to WHO, if ampox is not controlled in time, it can create a situation of a new pandemic.
As per WHO report Ampox was earlier called monkeypox. It is a viral infection that spreads through a virus. Its cases started coming in African countries from the 1970s and this disease was limited to the African continent. However, now this infection has started spreading to other countries. This virus was first found in monkeys, due to which it was named monkeypox. The symptoms of ampox are like flu. When people get affected by it, they suffer from high fever, cough and cold, body pain, extreme fatigue. Also, blisters (rashes) start appearing on the skin.
The infection of ampox spreads through contact with infected humans. It is sexually transmitted. It spreads through contact with clothes, bedding and other things of an infected person. In Africa, the monkeypox virus spreads through contact with infected animals. WHO has declared ampox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). This is an indication that the situation of ampox has become serious at the global level and immediate steps need to be taken to stop it.
Gay people are at greater risk of monkeypox, in which men have sex with men only. Those who have physical relations with more than one person are also at greater risk. According to current data, this infection is being transmitted sexually. Monkeypox spreads slower than the corona virus, but it can be very deadly. Since the current outbreak began in January 2023, 27000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and 1100 people have died. After this, the disease also spread to Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.
Ampox looks similar to smallpox and can last for 2 to 4 weeks. People who get ampox develop large blisters on their face, legs, waist and other parts of the body. Medicines to relieve fever and pain are given in this disease and most people recover on their own within a few weeks. However, ampox can cause complications in some people and people die from it. Tecovirimat, an antiviral drug made to treat smallpox, was approved for the treatment of ampox by the European Medicines Agency in January 2022.
WHO says that such medicines are usually given in rare cases. There are also three vaccines for smallpox – MVA-BN, LC16 and Orthopoxvac. These vaccines were first developed to deal with smallpox. WHO says that only people at high risk and those who are in contact with patients infected with smallpox should get vaccinated. This vaccine can protect against smallpox. WHO has not advised all people to get vaccinated to avoid smallpox.
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FIRST PUBLISHED : August 17, 2024, 08:27 IST