INDIA: On Tuesday, a senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official expressed anxiety over the social prejudice and discrimination surrounding the new monkeypox virus, which the UN agency for health has classified as a PHEIC (public health emergency of international concern).
At a recent Press Conference held in Geneva, Dr Rosamund Lewis, World Health OrganisationWHO Technical Lead on Monkeypox, announced her fears that the stigma around the virus could be a deterrence in the fight against the disease.
WHO’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged the affected nations to track down every suspected and confirmed case and their contacts to control the outbreak. He said that the reports are primarily of men who have sexual contact with other men.
While the majority of cases reported have emerged as a result of homosexual contact, it is not the general trend. According to WHO General Tedros, certain nations are starting to report community transmissions, including women.
WHO has discovered that monkeypox typically lasts between two and four weeks and can be controlled at home. It can, however, adversely affect children, expectant mothers and those with impaired immune systems as a result of other conditions. Incubation generally lasts six to thirteen days, however, it could go up to twenty-one days.
This year, more than 16,000 confirmed cases have been recorded in over 74 countries, and the actual numbers are supposedly higher, according to a WHO official. She mentioned that the spread of the disease could be curbed with the help of appropriate measures.
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