With 33 cases identified in France on 1er June 2022, monkey pox or Monkeypox infection usually heals spontaneously. The different symptoms are those usually encountered during an infectious pathology (fever, myalgia) to which is added the appearance of skin lesions all over the body. Similar to those of smallpox, eradicated since 1980, these manifestations are less serious and last on average 2 to 4 weeks.
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[EN VIDÉO] Monkey pox, should we be worried about it? What are the symptoms, the modes of transmission and how to treat it? Monkey pox or Monkeypox is beginning to worry people.
The monkey pox is due to a virus at DNA of the genus orthopoxviruses (smallpox virus). This zoonosis, endemic in Africa, can have human-to-human transmission through contact with respiratory droplets (need for face-to-face contact), vesicles on the skin or newly contaminated objects.
What is the clinical picture of monkeypox?
The duration incubation after infestation, is between 5 and 21 days. Then the first symptoms appear. As in many viral infections, the infected person feels a fever accompanied by headaches, pains muscles andasthenia. The clinical picture is completed by the presence of a adenopathy (increase in volume of the lymph nodes) that are not usually found in other viral pathologies (smallpox, varicella).
After 2 to 3 days, we witness a rash skin (rash) starting on the face and neck and spreading over the body (including the palms of the hands and soles of the feet). The mucosas (mouth and genital areas) may be affected. These skin lesions evolve in different stages going from the papule (raisedepidermis), vesicle (containing a liquid clear), to the pustule (presence of pu) to finally dry up and form scabs who fall. Generally, the healing is spontaneous after a few weeks.
The case fatality rate monkey pox is much lower (3 to 6% in the general population) than that of smallpox (30% death) even if the clinical picture remains similar.
How is monkeypox diagnosed in humans?
the diagnostic is done by taking samples from the skin lesions with detection of the virus by PCR (chain reaction polymerase). Serology is not contributory in this case due to cross-reactions (vaccine anti-smallpox).
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