California and Illinois have joined New York State in declaring a public health emergency over an outbreak of monkeypox as cases surge across the country. Many countries caught the injuries and rushed to take health measures and strategies to prevent a recurrence of the Corona scenario, but what about Lebanon? What do we know about the cases that have proven to be infected with monkeypox?
The cases that were discovered in Lebanon were through a doctor’s examination as a result of the appearance of clear symptoms, which necessitated their transfer to the Ministry of Health to closely follow the issue. Contrary to the state of panic that Lebanon witnessed on the day the first infection with the Corona virus was confirmed, the Lebanese caught the first monkeypox infection with awareness, lack of confusion, and some indifference.
According to the statement of the Ministry of Health, “4 cases of “monkey pox” virus were detected in Lebanon, including one in the capital Beirut, and 3 cases in the Mount Lebanon Governorate. And that the four infected people are Lebanese who had recently returned from travel and at different times, and the patients were isolated in their homes, while the case of their contacts is being followed up.”
The ministry indicated that 20 suspected cases of “monkeypox” virus have been reported.
This is how the statement ended, and with it, any new detail or follow-up ended. And in an attempt for more than 10 days to follow up on the developments of these cases and the possibility of an increase in injuries locally, we have not yet received any answer from the Ministry of Health “due to work pressures”, emphasizing the call back, which has not occurred until today.
Neither the blackout serves nor the intimidation, however, the cases recorded in Lebanon were not told again, and the known injuries remained limited to the four announced cases.
The head of the Lebanese Medical Social Gathering and the representative of the European Middle Eastern International Medical Association in Lebanon, Professor Raif Rida, fears that the cases declared by the Ministry of Health are unrealistic, especially in the absence of a PCR examination at the airport, whether to detect the Corona virus or monkeypox, and fear That the cases are more than those announced. I expect that the cases will be 10 times higher than what has been announced so far, and I am surprised by the secrecy of the Ministry of Health and its handling of this issue.”
We live in a poor health condition, the airport is open and infections are on the rise all over the world, as America alone has announced the registration of 6 thousand cases of monkeypox. In Reda’s opinion, “The airport door is the transit route for viruses into Lebanon, and the four cases that were confirmed to be infected with monkeypox in Lebanon were for foreigners and not local, which reminds us and brings us back to the Corona pandemic and the virus entering through the airport. Today’s fear is that these cases arrive before they are discovered and transmit the infection.” To those close to her, especially since the method of transmitting the virus is through the use of objects for the infected person, sleeping on his bed, breathing spray, saliva, blood, sexual relations with an infected person, or through contact.
Reda wonders that monkeypox “was transmitted from African countries to European countries in the past, but what we are witnessing today is the opposite as a result of sex tourism. It has been found that more than 80% of those infected in Europe are gay, while 20% are gay. People who have immune problems or weak immunity, such as children, pregnant women and some chronic diseases.”
Reda wonders, “How did monkeypox appear, which was declared eradicated many years ago, so what made it reappear in 2022 on large areas? The blackout of cases and health chaos will be paid by the Lebanese people, and I do not rule out that we will witness an increase in numbers, as happened with the Corona virus. There are silent infections that are spreading under the shadow of the Ministry of Health’s secrecy or obscurity.”
The increase in numbers at such an accelerated pace prompted the World Health Organization to declare a health emergency in order to avoid repeating the same mistake that occurred with the Corona pandemic on the day it preferred to wait two weeks before declaring it.
Symptoms of monkeypox in infected people include:
* High temperature
*Muscle aches
* Enlarged lymph nodes
Skin rash on the hands and face and then spread to the whole body
Most people recover within a few weeks, and treatment is limited to symptoms.
Reda has many questions and doubts about the emergence and spread of monkeypox cases, according to him, “Is there a biological manufacture of monkeypox? This virus is in the stores of international laboratories. Is it time to spread it and claim more lives and injuries around the world? Are we facing a bacterial cold war? Questions Many will reveal their truth in the future, and then every incident will have a new story.”
In the end, we are not in the process of judging anyone. The sharing of health information is scant and shy in Lebanon, and what is happening in the health sector goes beyond the issue of monitoring monkeypox cases. Patients die because they are unable to secure medicine or go to hospital. What is happening globally deserves to be asked realistic and objective questions, especially since the recent emergence of viruses is suspicious and its timing bears many indications.