Mandatory notification of monkeypox virus in the Netherlands, WHO reports 80 cases worldwide | NOW
Doctors are obliged to report this to the RIVM if they suspect that someone is carrying the monkeypox virus. Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health) wrote this in a letter to the House of Representatives on Saturday. World Health Organization WHO has registered eighty infections worldwide.
“In this way we keep a good overview of the spread and we can take action quickly enough”, Kuipers explains the reporting obligation. On Saturday, the second case of the monkeypox virus in the Netherlands was confirmed by RIVM.
The monkeypox virus is on the advice of the RIVM as A disease. This means that suspected infections must be reported immediately.
The second positive test result came in on Saturday, even though someone turned out to have the virus on Friday. RIVM does not provide information about either patient.
The WHO has registered cases of monkeypox virus in at least 12 countries, the report said BBC† The organization is still investigating fifty infections.
Spain investigates distribution via Pride festival
Spanish newspaper investigating whether monkeypox virus may have spread through a pride festival on the island of Gran Canaria, reports El Pais†
The popular gay festival Maspalomas Gay Pride was attended by some 80,000 people from Spain and abroad between 5 and 15 May. A man from Madrid, a man from Italy and a man from Tenerife tested positive for the virus all the way they visited.
Thirty infections have so far been registered throughout Spain. In addition, 23 “suspicious cases” are known.
Symptoms include rash and chills, vaccine is available
Monkeypox normally occurs only in Central and West Africa. The virus was first found in monkeys in 1958. The symptoms resemble an infection with the disease that has disappeared from smallpox.
People infected with penpox get penpox that usually starts in the face and then moves to other parts of the body. Other symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and fatigue. Most people recover from the illness within a few weeks.
There is a vaccine against the monkeypox virus. According to the RIVM, this can be used in the first days for a (possible) infection. The vaccine can also be used to prevent people from becoming infected. The drug is available in Europe.
Until 1974, vaccinations against smallpox were used in the Netherlands. It is expected that people who were received at the time will still be protected by it even after all these years.