HOW WORRIED SHOULD WE BE? CORNERSTONE CLINIC Dr. Ruhil Badiani MBBS, BSc RadSci, MRCGP, DRCOG
Dr Ruhil Badiani weighs in on the facts and the fiction surrounding this new challenge to put our minds at ease.
Is there a real danger from monkeypox? Monkeypox is not an unknown virus, unlike Covid-19, the first case in a human was seen in 1970. Currently, there is no need to worry, it is a very difficult virus to catch and one study
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(Bull World Health Organ. 1988; 66(4): 465–470.) shows that only 3% of close contacts will become infected. However, this is an unusual and unprecedented monkeypox outbreak. It has taken scientists who specialise in the disease by complete surprise and it is always a concern when a virus changes its behaviour and so we need to monitor the situation. The WHO have said that this is a containable situation, and we can stop the human-human transmission. It warned there was an urgent need to raise awareness and improve care, isolation and contact tracing for confirmed cases – but stressed there was no cause for panic.
Are we vaccinated or can we get vaccinated? We are not vaccinated but there is currently one vaccine available. Unlike Covid , Monkey Pox is not easily as contagious and no government is on alert to vaccinate their population as present. There is a Danish company that has the vaccine called Jynneos and the FDA approved it in 2019.
How easy is it to catch? Monkeypox does not spread easily between people. Spread of monkeypox may occur when a person comes into
