Monkeypox was diagnosed this week in two children in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday evening. These are the first two confirmed cases in children in the country. In total, more than 2,800 cases of monkeypox have already been confirmed in the United States.
“This is not surprising, because although transmission occurs almost exclusively in the male homosexual world, there is contact with family members, possibly children, and transmission occurs through skin lesions that can be present on the arms or hands. So it’s not strange at all“, reacts Yves Van Laethem, head of clinic in the infectious diseases department at CHU Saint-Pierre.
Symptoms and transmission
Symptoms of monkeypox are usually high fever, swollen lymph nodes, and rashes. Rarely fatal, the infection usually clears up after a few weeks.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the majority of reported cases concern men who have sex with men, but not exclusively. Anyone who has had high-risk unprotected contact with an infected person can also become infected.
Queues to get vaccinated in New York
In front of a vaccination center in New York, a long queue extends into the street. It is mainly composed of men between 20 and 40 years old. Those who were able to get an appointment consider themselves lucky. 9,000 slots left in 7 minutes. The city lacks vaccines and concern is mounting. “With supplies limited and the number of cases increasing, the situation is getting worse. People get nervous because they want to get vaccinated“, explains a man who is in line.
The LGBTQ+ community in New York demonstrated two days ago against the US government and its handling of the monkeypox outbreak.
Towards the highest level of alert?
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is due to announce on Saturday whether he chooses to declare a public health emergency of international concern, the health agency’s highest level of alert.
15,300 cases are recorded in 71 countries. Europe is the most affected. In Belgium, there are 331 cases, but none in children. “To my knowledge, we have no cases. There was the suspicion of one or the other case, which turned out to be negative during the samples“, specifies Yves Van Laethem.
Rarely fatal, the infection usually clears up after a few weeks.