The world is still recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic which brought everyone’s lives to a standstill 2 years ago, but another disease is slowly spreading across the globe, with the World Health Organization declaring a global health emergency. The new disease is called monkeypox and like COVID-19, it is a zoonotic disease — transmitted from animals to humans.
The Philippines recorded its first case of monkeypox this month and with COVID-19 still fresh on our minds, the medical community has been hard at work explaining what this new disease is. In a webinar hosted by Healthcare provider PhilCare, infectious disease specialist Dr. Christoper John N. Tibayan shared the medical community’s insight regarding the disease and dispelled the myths surrounding its transmission.
Dr. Tibayan said that the monkeypox virus is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus. This can be through close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.
He also addressed the misinformation circulating that monkeypox is a sexually-transmitted infection (STI). “Monkeypox is not an STI. It just so happens that the virus is transmitted through body fluids, and close contact, which is what happens in an intimate act. The virus can also be transmitted to other people in different settings, such as families living together,” he said.
Once infected, the virus incubates for a period before symptoms start appearing. Patients should be on the lookout for fever, headache, itchy skin, and swelling of the lymph nodes.
The telltale sign of a monkeypox infection is a rash. It usually starts with a bump that fills with pus, and crusts over before an ulcer develops.
Dr. Tibayan said that currently, there are no established antiviral treatments for monkeypox. Instead, patients are given analgesics and antipyretics to address the pain and fever that develops over the course of the disease. Patients also need to be monitored regarding the state of their skin, eye, mouth and other respiratory organs. He said that monkeypox on its own is rarely fatal but it can lead to complications such as scarring blindness, bacterial infection, pneumonia, encephalitis, miscarriage, and even death.
Current health and sanitary practices such as social distancing, regular handwashing, and wearing of masks can help minimize the risk of catching monkeypox, but if someone suspects that they have become infected, they should report its quickly to health workers for proper treatment and ensure that they do not spread the disease to others.
