In disappointing news, scientists advising the World Health Organization announced on monkeypox The chance of stopping the spread of the disease is dwindling as the number of cases doubles every two weeks, raising fears that it may take months for the spread to reach its peak.
This comes as the World Health Organization in Europe expects that the number of infections will reach more than 27 thousand by the second of August in 88 countries, up from 17,800 cases in about 70 countries in the latest census.
Scientists from around the world told Archyde.com that preparing forecasts for beyond this period is more complicated, adding that the spread of infection is expected to continue for several months and perhaps longer.
For her part, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles and a member of the World Health Organization’s expert committee on monkeypox Anne Rimwin said, “We have to get ahead of that…the chance of doing that is clearly slimming.”
(Istok)
Unprecedented step
The committee met last week to determine whether the outbreak constitutes a global public health emergency, and a majority of members voted against the move.
However, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared a state of emergency anyway in an unprecedented move. Health experts said that the measures resulting from this announcement must be urgent, including increasing vaccinations, examinations, isolating the infected and monitoring contacts.
(Istok)
Mutations in the virus?
It is noteworthy that the world has largely ignored the presence of the disease in parts of Africa for decades, but cases of infection began to appear in May outside the countries where it is endemic.
Experts say that the current spread may lead to mutations in the virus that make it more effective in spreading between humans.
It is noteworthy that German scientists released a study on Tuesday that found mutations in one of 47 cases of infection, and concluded that they may help the virus spread more easily.