The regional chapter of the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), issued an alert for a new disease that is spreading at high speed in Europe and threatens to reach Latin America and the Caribbean.
The virus is transmitted by the virulent pathogen called Shigella sonnei, of which only a small number of bacteria, about 10 out of 100 microorganisms, are required to transmit the disease.
This type of virus, explains PAHO, is seen mainly in children who consume contaminated food or water. According to information from the organization, in some countries travelers returning from endemic areas or high-risk populations are notified.
However, it also explains that a high percentage of those diagnosed with shigellosis are men who have had sex with other men, so it is a virus that can be sexually transmitted.
The WHO also ensures that it can also be transmitted by the oro-faecal route, by direct contact with infected people (predominant mode of transmission), indirect contact through vectors such as flies, consumption of contaminated food or water, and by sexual transmission through oro-anal practices or indirect contact after anal intercourse, through fingers, condoms or contaminated sex toys.
As for the symptoms, it is known to produce watery and often bloody diarrhea, severe abdominal pain, colic, fever, vomiting, nausea, loss of appetite, among other discomforts.
The WHO also warned that its incubation period is from one to four days and its transmissibility ranges from the acute phase until the bacteria is not present in feces.
So far, no cases of the virus have been reported in Latin America, but the Latin American Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (ReLAVRA) showed that the Shigella sonnei it was present in 30% of the samples analyzed between 2014 and 2020.
However, he calls for epidemiological surveillance to prevent the bacteria from spreading in the region and for controls to be increased to prevent these outbreaks from spreading.
Monkeypox: why is the disease expanding and spreading more?
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported knowledge of more than 700 cases of monkeypox globally, including 21 in the United States, with research suggesting expanding in the country.
All patients are recovering or have already recovered and there are no fatal cases.
“We also have at least one case in the United States that is not travel-related or knows how he got the infection.” said Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the entity’s division of high-impact pathogens and pathologies.
Monkeypox is a rare related disease, although less severe than smallpox, causing itching that spreads throughout the body, fever, chills, and aches, among other symptoms.
The disease is generally localized in West and Central Africa, some cases have been reported in Europe since May and the number of affected countries has grown since then.
Within the studies carried out by the US health authorities, it was determined that new genetic sequencing data indicate that there are at least two separate outbreaks of monkeypox outside of Africa.
Although this disease has been endemic on that continent for 50 years and exceptional cases were known on other continents, it made its appearance on May 7, in the United Kingdom, where the first two cases were reported.
The number of infections began to increase as it spread to Europe and then to other continents. Thus, within a month of this outbreak, more than 700 cases have already been officially reported, of which 21 correspond to the United States and the vast majority to Europe.