“Global Emergency” – Monkeypox: WHO declares public health emergency

At their first emergency meeting on monkey pox in June, the experts advised the WHO Secretary General to declare the highest alert level. Since then, however, cases of infection have continued to spread. According to the WHO, there are now more than 16,000 cases registered in 60 countries, many of which previously had virtually no cases of monkeypox. Tedros had already expressed “concern” about the increase in the number of cases during the nearly six-hour meeting of the emergency committee on Thursday.

According to AGES, 99 cases of monkey pox have been reported in Austria (as of July 22). The disease is notifiable.

The health emergency has only been declared six times, most recently in January 2020 due to the rapid spread of the then-new type of coronavirus. An “emergency of international concern,” to use the official term, is being declared for a “serious, sudden, unusual and unexpected” health problem that could spread to other countries. The decision rests with WHO chief Tedros. A committee of independent experts had previously failed to agree on a joint recommendation on whether or not to declare an emergency.

The current classification is intended to raise awareness among Member States, but has no direct practical consequences, as the governments themselves decide on any measures in their country. Physicians and clinics should be sensitized, take protective measures in suspected cases and educate the public on how to protect themselves from infection.

Infections through close physical contact
The WHO also declared the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus outbreak an emergency on January 30, 2020. But that doesn’t mean people should now prepare for the same monkey pox measures as they did before the corona pandemic. While the coronavirus spreads through aerosols containing viral particles that infected people emit when they breathe, speak or cough, monkeypox infections usually occur through close physical contact, according to current knowledge.

According to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, 95 percent of cases can be traced to infection through sexual contact. Typical symptoms of the disease include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes, and pustules similar to chickenpox.

Tedros warns against stigmatization
WHO Secretary-General Tedros said on Saturday that the outbreak is currently targeting gay men, “especially men with multiple sexual partners. That means this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups.” With the tools you have now, you can “stop the transmission and get this outbreak under control,” Tedros said, simultaneously warning against stigma. and discrimination against homosexuals.