Monkeypox: how worrying is the outbreak?
The WHO has called for action in view of a growing number of monkeypox cases outside the endemic area of West and Central Africa. Intensified educational measures and tracing of infection chains are needed, it urged. Europe is particularly affected, with around 150 registered cases. The virus is transmitted through close physical contact and its symptoms are usually mild.
No reason to panic
The BBC explains why monkeypox doesn't pose as much of a threat as Covid:
“Monkeypox is a known virus rather than a new one, and we already have vaccines and treatments. It is mostly mild, although it can be more dangerous in young children, pregnant women and people with weak immune systems. But it spreads more slowly than Covid and the distinctive and painful rash makes it harder to miss than a cough that could be anything. This makes the job of finding people who may have been infected and vaccinating those at risk of catching it easier.”
Turning a blind eye can backfire
The lack of knowledge about the disease testifies to an ignorant attitude, comments the Süddeutsche Zeitung:
“Although monkeypox has been observed time and again in poorer countries since 1970, most of the world considered it hardly worth a glance. The disease was simply considered one of those many exotic ailments, far removed from our European or North American comfort zones. But in a globalised world such ignorance is naïve and dangerous. ... The current cases should be seen as a warning of how quickly turning a blind eye can backfire.”