MPOX GLOBAL OUTBREAK | CAN MPOX BECOME THE NEW COVID?

two years after getting over with the covid-19 pandemic should we be preparing for another Global pandemic this time the virus in focus is the empx virus uh which was initially endemic in Africa but now positive case has been seen in Europe in Sweden and one positive case has been confirmed in Pakistan with two more suspected cases therefore this new variant of empo which is spreading widely is of great concern and on 14th August 2024 the wh has declared empx as a public health emergency of international concern previously uh it had declared the same on 22nd of July 2022 when a global outbreak occurred and empo cases were reported in Africa America and Europe since then uh the cases have continued and now from the beginning of this year the cases have increased rapidly within new variant responsible for it this time the variant is a mutation of c one and it is known as the clear one B virus empo so this is the one which is spreading more rapidly and just in this year we have had around 15,600 cases in more than 133 African countries it has jump borders to the neighboring countries from uh the Democratic Republic of Congo and it has crossed over to Rwanda Uganda Kenya Burundi and now is traveling globally to Europe and Asia and overall up till now from 2022 116 countries have reported cases with more than 100,000 cases and 537 deaths up till now and just in this year the number of death is 112 due to this new virulent virus and this time it is mostly the children and the young adults who are being affected so what is empx where has it come from and how to deal with it I'm Dr Maria mati let's talk about this now this m box is a double stranded DNA virus belonging to the orthopox virus genus and it is very close L related to the variola virus that is the small pox virus which was already eradicated from the world in 1980 but empx is there the very first case was reported in 1958 in Denmark amongst the monkeys which had been kept for research that is it is a xotic virus beginning in the animals we do not know from before that where did it actually originate from since then it transferred over to the humans and in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo the first human case was seen and this was amongst the homosexual population since then the cases as we just talked about are continuing so what do we do how do we recognize it how can we prevent it spread and how can we treat it or the main things that we are concerned about today now it spreads by direct contact that is from the infected person to another infected person by touching by kissing by having physical relationship by having homosexual relationships or even when you are handling the infected people you can get the virus then from animals to infected animals to humans it can be transmitted while they are handling those animals and then from the contaminated items that is the bedding the towels the clothes that are being used by these infected persons when they handled by the others it can get to them then the symptoms the symptoms are uh there is going to be a flu like scenario in which there will be fever headache body aches Malay lethargy lack of energy and then there are going to be the skin symptoms the skin lesions initially there is a flat reddish rash all over the body then these change into rubbery nodules and they become the papules next they fill up with fluid and they form the blisters the pules which are depressed in the center and then they start scabbing off they start crusting all this takes about 2 to four weeks of time and along with these uh there is going to be lmph fetopathy the blisters are going to be painful they are going to be itchy so how to diagnose it uh it is diagnosed by testing the fluid present in these vesicles which can be taken from either the Oro ferial area the anal area or the rectal area and the PCR tests are done which confirm the presence of the empx virus and which strain it belongs to normally it has two subt types the cad one and the clad two type now the new varent is the clad 1B type it is a mutation of one uh CAD one so how do you treat it uh the first thing is that we need to start wearing our masks again uh we need those of us who are handling these uh patients we need to uh keep the uh protective personal protective gares again in we need to start them in practice we need to wear mask we need to wear gloves and we need to uh take care of our hygiene the ones who are suffering with it they have to stay isolated from the beginning of the symptoms till all the lesions they heal off they crust and they crust has fallen off then they will have to be dealt for the pain management for the fever for management of the skin lesions and complications have to be prevented in them uh for that the doctor is going to to advise different kinds of supportive medicines soothing ointments Etc you have to uh get yourself checked by the doctor don't just stay at home thinking that it is simply the chickenpox virus because they also give a quite a similar presentation then uh the mouth sores uh they can be taken care of by doing saltwater goggles regularly then the Body Source they you can have warm baths with baking soda some Sals or sit spots for them uh hand washing regularly is very very important both by the patient and those and by those who are dealing with the patients along with that sleep well eat well and uh stay hydrated so that you build up your immunity to fight against the disease the part of the medicines is going to be dealt by the doctor take the medicines as advised now the prevention the prevention is is uh by vaccinations uh two types of vaccinations are already available and there are two doses which need to be administered and safe sexual practices uh should be adopted uh there should be fewer sexual partners homosexuality should be abandoned all together then again cleanliness keeping the areas clean keeping yourself clean keeping the sh places clean by disinfecting them all this has to be done and for the diagnosis uh it is very important to have a good history because usually there is a travel history of the person who is infected from that uh place where it is endemic like even the case in Sweden that person who was diagnosed had a history of traveling to a place in Africa where it was emic in Pakistan also it was by one of The Travelers either from the Saudi Arabia or some other countries who were diagnosed with it therefore a travel history is very important if somebody has traveled in or if the person himself has traveled from an endemic area it is of great importance and should be reported then how do you differentiate it from chickenpox uh in chickenpox there is going to be no lymphadenopathy whereas in this there is going to be lymphadenopathy uh then the chickenpox lesions the skin lesions in chickenpox they are uh of multiple developments at one time some of them are just red rashes and some of them are blisters some of them are scabbing at one time whereas in moox these skin lesions they are going to be of the similar type all over the body and they are going to be quite pronounced on the hands and palms and feet and rest also everywhere in the body especially in the private areas too so taking care uh of yourself and your loved ones and your neighbors and your community is a must for everyone so share the information stay safe and stay healthy thank you and inshallah we'll meet again with another topic asalam alikum