Scientists said monkeypox is not as contagious or dangerous as COVID-19, but clear guidance is needed on how to isolate a person infected with the disease.
Scientists said monkeypox is not as contagious or dangerous as COVID-19, but clear guidance is needed on how to isolate a person infected with the disease.
Some leading infectious disease experts are calling on global health officials to act swiftly to address the growing Monkeypox outbreak that has spread to at least 20 countries,
They are arguing that governments and the World Health Organization should not repeat the early wrongdoings of the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed the detection of cases, which helped spread the virus.
While monkeypox is not as contagious or dangerous as COVID-19, these scientists say, clear guidance is needed about how to isolate a person infected with monkeypox, how to protect those at risk, and better testing. More clear advice about. contact tracing.
“If it becomes endemic (in more countries), we will have another worse disease and many more difficult decisions to make,” said Professor Isabel Eckerle from the Geneva Center for Emerging Viral Diseases in Switzerland.
An official said the WHO is considering whether the outbreak should be assessed as a potential public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). Reuters, The WHO’s determination that an outbreak constitutes a global health emergency – as it did with COVID-19 or Ebola – will help accelerate research and funding to prevent a disease.
“It’s always under consideration, but there is no emergency committee (on monkeypox) yet,” Mike Ryan, director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, said on the sidelines of the agency’s annual meeting in Geneva.
However, experts say it is unlikely the WHO will reach such a conclusion anytime soon, as monkeypox is a known threat that the world has the equipment to fight. WHO officials said discussing whether to set up an emergency committee that recommends declaring a PHEIC is part of the agency’s routine response.
Ms Ackerley called on the WHO to encourage countries to implement more coordinated and stringent isolation measures, even without an emergency declaration. He worries that talk of the virus being mild, as well as the availability of vaccines and treatments in some countries, “potentially leads to lazy behavior from public health officials.”
not the same as COVID-19
There have been more than 300 suspected and confirmed cases of monkeypox this month, a usually mild illness that is spread by close contact, causing flu-like symptoms and a distinctive rash.
Most have been to Europe instead in Central and West African countries where the virus is endemic. No deaths have been reported in the current outbreak.
However, global health officials have expressed concern over the growing outbreak in non-endemic countries. The WHO has said it expects the number to rise as surveillance increases.
Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, wrote on Twitter that monkeypox, SARS-CoV-2, was isolated from the novel coronavirus, but “we are making some similar mistakes with respect to conclusive response with devices. Hand.”
On May 27, the WHO reiterated that the monkeypox virus is contained with measures including rapid identification and isolation of cases and contact tracing.
People who are infected – and in some cases their close contacts – are advised to self-isolate for 21 days, but it is not clear to what extent people will adhere to such long periods of time away from work or other commitments. Laboratory capacity to test for monkeypox has also not yet been widely established, Ms Ackerley said, meaning rapid diagnosis can be difficult.
Mass vaccination is not considered essential, but some countries, including the UK and France, are offering the vaccine to healthcare workers and close contacts.
Other experts say the current response is proportionate and that treating monkeypox as a global health emergency and declaring a PHEIC would be inappropriate at this stage.
“It is reserved for threats with the highest level of exposure based on international risk of infectivity, severity and increased risk,” said Dale Fisher, president of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and professor of medicine in Singapore.
Beyond the label, experts said the most important lesson of the past two years is that once an epidemic has spread, it is too late to stop.
“It’s always disappointing when the world wakes up to a new disease, when it comes to high-income countries,” said Piero Oliaro, professor of poverty-related infectious diseases and monkeypox specialist at Oxford University.
To prepare for the pandemic, “you have to do where the diseases are right now,” he said.