In the recent times, the whole world has seen serious virus diseases which caused devastation on a global level. In this episode, we cannot forget a deadly disease like Corona, which terrorized people on a global level. 7 January 2020 is the same day when Covid 19 knocked in India. It was a virus which took away the peace and sleep of the people. People had to remain confined to their homes and it seemed as if the world had come to a standstill. Now a new virus is spreading again across the world, which WHO has declared as a global pandemic. The name of this virus is Monkeypox.
The name Monkeypox may sound strange but it is a disease that can even kill a person. This virus was found in some African countries till now but now it has been seen in our neighboring country Pakistan as well. People will have to be more careful about it.
Source-Wikipedia
What is Monkeypox Virus? Is Monkeypox More Dangerous Than Covid-19
The world was just recovering from a virus like Corona when another virus has raised concerns all over the world. The name of this virus is MPox, which was earlier also known as Monkeypox. It has once again become the center of concern for people because the World Health Organization has declared it a Global Public Health Emergency. It has been placed in Grade 3 bracket, which means that it needs to be paid attention to as soon as possible.
Since January 2023, more than 27,000 cases have been reported and about 1100 deaths have been recorded. This virus has spread to African countries like Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Congo. Cases of this virus were found in these countries only till now, but now a case of this has been reported in our neighboring country Pakistan across Africa. This virus has been found in a 34-year-old man from Pakistan, which has been confirmed by the Medical University of Peshawar.
The person started showing symptoms of the virus on August 3, the public health agency has also confirmed that this is the same strain of the virus that has been spreading rapidly in the Republic of Congo since September 2023 and is also life-threatening.
What is MPox
MPox is an infectious disease that was first found in monkeys, due to which it was first named Monkeypox. However, this name was considered wrong because it was found to be wrong to associate it with monkeys because its cases were also found in many humans. MPox is spread by the monkeypox virus, which comes from the smallpox family, which is also called zoonotic diseases, which means the disease that can spread to both animals and humans.
There are two types of this virus, clade 1 which is more serious and clade 2 which seems to be spreading more around the world. Apart from this, this virus also spreads from human to human, which can also spread through infected skin and body flukes. It can also spread by touching someone, coming in sexual contact or by the bite of an infected animal. The symptoms of MPox appear after 5-10 days. In this, rashes and wounds are seen on different parts of the palms, feet, face and body.
Signs and symptoms
This virus may be asymptomatic in many people and can remain inside the body for up to 21 days, causing illness and infection. It is often accompanied by fever, body and muscle pain, and extreme fatigue. In more severe cases, it can cause swelling of the brain, pneumonia, blindness, and complications in pregnancy. Death has been observed in 1% of cases. This usually occurs in individuals whose immune system is weak or who are already suffering from some other disease. The same thing was seen in Corona as well.
First Case of the Virus
The first case was reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1970 in a 9-month-old boy and since then it has been seen spreading among children. MPOX, which was once confined to Congo, was also seen in Nigeria the following year and two more cases were reported. By 1978, the total number of cases had reached 36.
Role of World Health Organization
In the year 1980, smallpox was also spreading rapidly. At that time, about 30% people died due to this. World Health Organization developed a vaccine for smallpox and at that time it was believed that MPox could be eradicated with this vaccine. By then, there were only 45% cases of MPox which were confined only to West Africa. At that time, it was said that this virus does not have the capacity to become an epidemic.
Between 1981 and 1986, the World Health Organization tried to eradicate the disease, but while 338 people were infected with clade 1 in Congo, the clade 2 variant had taken the form of the disease in West Africa. The disease had a mortality rate of 10%. In fact, a shocking surge was seen in 1996 that lasted for more than a year, involving 511 suspected cases. But at that time, research could not find out why it was spreading and why it was attacking only children, but the virus which was till now in Africa had now reached the World Health Organization.
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The virus enters the US
In 2003, the whole world was shocked when this virus reached the United States for the first time and there was a panic like situation everywhere. 72 people were infected with this virus in 6 states but later it was found that it is a clade 2 variant, then some peace was restored among the people and within a month it was eradicated from the whole of America and no person died from this virus.
For a few years, cases of smallpox had declined significantly, and it seemed as though the virus was going into decline on its own. However, in 2010, a new study found that a single district in the DRC had seen 760 cases in 2 years, a significant number of which were 90% of those infected had never been vaccinated against smallpox.
It was also observed that boys living in forest areas and hunting were most vulnerable to this virus. DRC does not have extensive roads and international airports, due to which the virus was limited to nearby villages and could not even reach the capital.
By the year 2017, the picture started changing again. Its outbreak was seen in a state of Nigeria. The virus was found in an 11-year-old boy, after which he went to a private hospital for check-up. The doctor first thought it was chicken pox. In the next 11 days, large blisters and pimples started appearing all over his body, from feet to palms of hands. When a doctor investigated it further on the internet, he thought it was a case of MPox. Then the boy was sent to a good hospital. After examining the boy, it was found that the symptoms were of MPox.
The virus enters in India
In 2022, cases of Monkeypox were also found in India. 20 people were found infected with this disease. Most of them were those who had returned to India after traveling abroad. Most of the cases were reported in Delhi and these patients were also admitted to Loknayak Hospital in Delhi. At that time, the patients infected with Monkeypox had only mild symptoms and one patient also died.
In Kerala also, a person infected with Monkeypox had died. People infected with this virus were found in India for about 2 months, although there was no large scale infection in any area like Covid. At that time, many cases of monkeypox were reported in foreign countries. Thousands of cases were reported in America and European countries but this number was less in India. But now it has knocked in our neighborhood, so there is a need to be more cautious in India too.
