Post by JoannaL on Jun 25, 2022 10:17:00 GMT -5
Monkeypox Declared Pandemic, Spreading in US
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared monkeypox a pandemic and there are in excess of 200 monkeypox and orthopoxvirus cases confirmed in the U.S. Current data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate the majority of U.S. cases are in California, New York and Illinois. Health officials announced the first probably case in Kentucky yesterday (June 24).
The CDC has confirmed evidence of local transmission of monkeypox, in addition to the cases where the infected had traveled abroad. People normally become infected through contact with the skin lesions or bodily fluids of infected animals or humans or through contact with materials contaminated with the virus.
Although related to smallpox, the symptoms associated with monkeypox are much milder and before lesions develop, those infected suffer fever, chills, rash and aches.
The smallpox vaccine was discontinued in the United States in 1972 after the disease was officially eradicated, but according to Dr. Hannah Newman, director of epidemiology at New York’s Lennox Hill Hospital, those who received the vaccine prior to that time still have some protection against monkeypox and other orthpoxviruses.
Sources: Julio Musto, Fox News, June 25, 2022; Meagan Drillinger, Health, June 2, 2022; and Lauren Biscaldi, Drug Topics, June 23, 2022.