State of SP officially announces 1st case of monkeypox

The State Health Department of São Paulo officially announced this Thursday (9) the first case of monkeypox in Brazil, one day after the ministry announced the case.

Confirmation was made by the Instituto Adolfo Lutz after performing a differential diagnosis of varicella zoster virus detection by RT-PCR (with a negative result) and metagenomic analysis of the genetic material, when the monkeypox virus genome was identified.

This is a 41-year-old man who recently traveled to Spain and Portugal. He is in isolation at the Emílio Ribas hospital, in the west of the capital. All patient contacts are being monitored by health surveillance teams.

THE Sheet a person familiar with the patient’s diagnosis said he has a rash and sores over his body that resemble the signs of illness, but he is in a stable condition.

The state Epidemiological Surveillance Center (CVE) and the São Paulo City Hall have also been investigating since last week another patient, a 26-year-old woman, also a resident of the capital. According to a preliminary investigation, she has no recent travel history and has also had no known contact with other infected people.

The woman’s health status is stable. She is hospitalized in isolation at a public hospital in the city, according to Covisa (Health Surveillance Coordination) of the Municipal Health Department.

Across the country, there are at least eight suspected cases of monkeypox under investigation, according to a statement from the ministry released on Wednesday. These are people who live in Santa Catarina, Ceará, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia and São Paulo.

The federal government created a situation room to monitor the progress of the disease.

Worldwide, the WHO (World Health Organization) counts more than 1,000 confirmed cases in 29 countries outside Africa. No deaths were recorded.

The disease is caused by monkeypox, a virus of the genus orthopoxvirus. Another pathogen that is also of this genus is the one that causes smallpox, a disease eradicated in 1980.

Although they have their similarities, there are differences between the two diseases. One of them is lethality: smallpox killed about 30% of those infected. Monkeypox, on the other hand, has a mortality rate of between 3% and 6%, according to the WHO.

The most common symptoms appear within six to 13 days after exposure, but can take up to three weeks. People who get sick often have a fever, headache, back and muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, and general exhaustion.

About one to three days after the fever, most people also develop a painful rash characteristic of this virus genus. The rash can start on the patient’s face, hands, feet, inside the mouth or on Organs genitals and progress to the rest of the body.

The disease was already known, but had been recorded mainly in African countries. What has the scientific community on alert was the rapid spread of the virus to other countries outside Africa.

Despite the reference to monkeys in its name, the monkeypox’s natural hosts are likely rodents such as mice. From them, the virus can be transmitted to humans through contact with fluids or injuries from infected animals.

From person to person, transmission happens through close contact. Infection can occur via the respiratory tract, but prolonged close face-to-face contact is required. Another form of infection is through wounds on the skin.​

as showed the Sheetnews of new cases in the world has led Brazilians to look for the vaccine and old vaccination cards.