An Israeli with a suspicion of "monkey pox" is hospitalized in Ichilov Israel today

An Israeli man in his 30s, returning from a trip to Western Europe, arrived at the Ichilov emergency room with suspicious lesions of the monkey pox virus.

He is in a light condition and will be hospitalized for evaluation and supervision in an isolation room.

The monkey pox virus that is now spreading in the West raises concerns about another outbreak of a serious disease in the world, right after we have finished dealing with the coronavirus virus, quite a few questions arise about the virus.

Dr. Yael Paran, who is in charge of infectious and tropical diseases in the Tel Aviv Medical Center, sounded a sedative siren in a conversation with Israel Today.

Dr. Farren explained that the disease is usually mild, and that the virus is only transmitted through really close contact (like unprotected sex). The disease has vaccines and drugs in the West, so there is no fear of a severe fatal outbreak or a huge outbreak like we experienced with the corona virus.

"Monkey pox is a viral disease that originates in general from rodents of various types and not monkeys or humans."

Dr. Farren said, adding, "It's called monkey pox by mistake but it's so because the disease sometimes infects monkeys and also humans but they are its surrogate by chance only."

"This disease has been known around the world since the 1970s, when its first case was identified. This disease has two main strains: the Congo strain - which is more contagious and more acute, and the West African strain which is milder."

What characterizes the disease?

"It is a disease similar to smallpox, but milder and transient on its own. The disease starts with a fever of a few days, muscle aches, fatigue, swelling of the lymph nodes and then after two or three days smallpox begins in the center of the body that spreads to the limbs and head. "Winds that turn into blisters, later they become pus and then scabs. You can confuse the disease with chickenpox, by the way."

How long do patients usually have the disease?

"The disease usually lasts from two to four weeks and in the vast majority of patients it goes away on its own. Sometimes there may be pain in the mouth, eye, lungs or vaginal area, as well as secondary infection of bacterial infections that need treatment. But it is usually a mild illness that requires no hospitalization. Only at home. "

Does this disease have a cure?

"The vaccine that the entire population received until the 1980s for smallpox is also good for this disease, because it is a similar disease. Therefore, those who are vaccinated are five times more protected than those who are not vaccinated. Beyond that, there are good treatments and drugs developed around the world." "Blacks of various kinds, but they are also very good against monkey pox. In general, there are good treatments that are common in the West."

How many outbreaks of the disease have there been to date?

"In 2003 there was a major outbreak in the United States of the virus. A rodent from Africa that was infected with the disease was then imported and all the veterinarians and rodent caregivers were exposed, it was an outbreak of 70 patients. So they learned a lot about this disease. "The disease and most of the patients did not need hospitalization at all, and no one died. By the way, there was one patient in Israel four years ago. This was a person who came to Israel from Nigeria, which is a country where the disease is common. The patient was treated.

What is the current situation in terms of the disease in the world?

"Now there is really a bit of a major outbreak of the disease. It started with the first patient discovered in the UK on May 06. He came from Africa but the rest of the patients no longer came from Africa and became infected in the community. There are currently over 70 new cases worldwide. It has now been detected in Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, France and the United States. "People in the middle are infected. The treatment is simply a vaccine of the entire immediate company of a diagnosed patient and this is to prevent the further spread of the virus. The vaccine is in the smallpox vaccine which is also good for this disease."

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