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Irish Mirror

National

Sophie Collins

The unsuspecting signs of Monkeypox as global health emergency declared and cases found in women and children

WHO Disease

The World Health Organisation has declared that monkeypox is now a global health emergency.

In a statement on Sunday afternoon, WHO said the outbreak has reached more than 70 countries and is an "extraordinary" situation that now qualifies as a global emergency.

The declaration has been made in an attempt to encourage investment by countries in virus treatment but it may result in a scarcity of vaccinations if many countries rush to secure batches.

Although monkeypox is endemic in parts of central and west Africa, it was not known to spread farther afield in large numbers until May of this year, when authorities detected dozens of cases in Europe, North America, and elsewhere.

Early descriptions of monkeypox symptoms found the first signs were rashes and lesions on the skin, but a new study published in the British Medical Journal has pointed to far more unsuspecting signs of the illness.

Many people who have had the disease have since confirmed more common symptoms such as fever, swollen lymph nodes, rashes, and lethargy.

According to Chloe Orkin, MD, PhD, physician, and Professor of HIV/AIDS medicine at Queen Mary University in London and lead author of the study, “It is vitally important to share what the disease looks like," now that it is spreading widely.

“We're now in a situation where we've got more than 15,000 cases, and it's spreading to different countries all the time,” Orkin added.

“Doctors there often have not seen this before, and people are presenting to emergency departments to primary care, to dermatology to sexual health clinics."

The study also showed growing numbers of cases in women and children are now being reported, so Orkin explained that although the outbreak originated in sexual networks of gay and bisexual men, anybody can get monkeypox and it is now infecting others, not in these networks.

“This is a disease that's currently mostly spreading through sexual networks in gay and bisexual men. And it's important to make that clear so that gay and bisexual men are aware of the options in terms of vaccination or treatment if needed.

“But it is also equally important not to make people think this is a disease that can only be contracted by gay and bisexual men. because that's not the case,” said Orkin.

Ireland has detected 69 cases of monkeypox since it began spreading in May of this year (up to July 16), and according to the HSE, the first unsuspecting symptoms of it include:

a high temperature (38 degrees Celsius or higher)
a headache
muscle aches
backache
swollen glands
shivering (chills)
exhaustion

The unsuspecting signs of Monkepox as global health emergency declared and cases found in women and children (Getty Images)

The Irish health service explains that a rash usually appears 1 to 5 days after the first symptoms. The rash often begins on the face, then spreads to other parts of the body. If monkeypox has been spread through sexual contact, the rash can appear around the genitals.

The rash is sometimes confused with chickenpox. It starts as raised spots, which turn into small blisters filled with fluid. These blisters eventually form scabs which later fall off.

The symptoms usually clear up in 2 to 4 weeks, but very occasionally in people with a very weak immune system or very young babies, severe illness arises

You should contact your GP if, you have: