You may already know the news about the discovery of the first monkeypox patient in Sri Lanka.
Although it is not a new disease to the world like Covid-19, this epidemic which has shown a rapid spread recently has now spread to 109 countries and the number of people who have been confirmed to be infected is close to 78,000. So far 36 deaths have been reported.
The Health Promotion Office states pointing out that the virus may enter the body of a healthy person through close contact with an infected person, and blisters and wounds caused by the disease, other bodily fluids, infected respiratory droplets, and bed sheets that the infected person has recently used may contain the virus.
Generally, symptoms appear 5-21 days after the virus is ingested, and common symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, and blisters with severe body fatigue.
Blisters usually appear 1-3 days after the onset of fever and are mainly seen on the face, hands and soles. In addition, there are cases of painful blisters/sores in the mucous membranes of the mouth, genitals and eyes. However, since there are many diseases such as chicken pox, measles, herpes zoster, and bacterial skin infections, which have similar symptoms, it is best to consult a doctor if you should suspect that you are infected with ‘monkeypox’ even if you have the above symptoms. Various blood tests and PCR tests are used to confirm the disease.
Until all the sores are healed and all the crusts formed from them are gone and healed, a person infected with monkeypox can be a carrier of the disease. Although this is a self-limiting disease that usually heals in 2-4 weeks, there is some risk of complications in immunocompromised people and young children.
To prevent the disease, the Health Promotion Office recommends avoiding close physical contact (especially skin-to-skin contact) with people with these symptoms, confirmed or suspected, and avoiding contact with the equipment used by that person.
Also, if the above suspicious symptoms are present, it is important to seek medical advice immediately and avoid close physical contact with others until complete recovery.
As we have learned from our own experience in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is very important to work on a scientific basis to overcome such health problems.
The Health Promotion Office is ready to provide you with all the necessary support to empower you, the citizen, to face this challenge successfully, and to protect the health of you and your loved ones, by providing you with public health guidelines and updated scientific data information as soon as the epidemic spreads.
There is no doubt that even in this crisis period, if we take proper measures together, we will be able to protect ourselves and our loved ones.