Brazil records 2,108 confirmed cases of monkey pox until the moment. The data, released by the Ministry of Health this Sunday (7), indicate that the states with the highest number of cases are São Paulo (1,573), Rio de Janeiro (238), Minas Gerais (81), Goiás (38) and Federal District (37).
The disease also affects the states of Paraná (36), Bahia (18), Ceará (5), Rio Grande do Norte (4), Espírito Santo (5), Pernambuco (13), Tocantins (1), Acre (1) , Amazonas (4), Pará (1), Paraíba (1), Piauí (1), Rio Grande do Sul (20), Mato Grosso (2), Mato Grosso do Sul (8), and Santa Catarina (21).
In an interview with CNN this Sunday, the State Secretary of Health of São Paulo, Jean Gorinchteyn, explained the main characteristics of the disease, such as the different symptoms, the forms of transmission and prevention measures.
“[A doença] is not consecrated in a public health emergency, but it requires attention and coordinated action, which is exactly what has been taken both by the Ministry of Health and by the states, in the sense that we create joint strategies”, he said.
This week, the United States declared a public health emergency due to the disease. The secretary explains that the criteria used for the measure include the assessment of the severity of a disease and the impact on health systems.
“Very few are those that have evolved seriously in the world and even here in the country. We only had one death,” says Gorinchteyn. According to the secretary, most cases associated with hospitalization occurred due to social conditions, such as infection by people living on the streets or living in conditions that made it difficult for family members to isolate, for example.
“The severity is not great, there is a percentage of 3 to 6% that can present more severe forms, therefore very low and, on the other hand, it does not impact our health system, compromising our intensive care units, our infirmary services or our emergency services”, he added.
This week, the government of São Paulo announced the launch of initiatives to combat monkeypox. The coping plan includes the creation of a control center and an integrated network for laboratory diagnosis and care for patients with the disease.
“We have to take action to face any outbreak or epidemic. This made it very clear that early joint measures between the three spheres of federal, state and municipal government are essential. This is what will bring very concrete and robust information. This is how we will fight any disease and the false information that ends up circulating especially on social media”, he pointed out.
How to identify the symptoms of monkey pox
The incubation period is usually 6 to 13 days, but can range from 5 to 21 days. In the most common documented form of the disease, symptoms may appear from the seventh day onwards with a sudden and intense fever.
Signs such as headache, nausea, exhaustion, tiredness and especially the appearance of swollen glands are common, which can happen both in the neck and in the axillary region as well as in the genital part.
The manifestation on the skin occurs between one and three days after the initial symptoms. The signs go through different stages: macula (small spots), papule (small pimple-like sores), vesicle (small blisters), pustule (bubble with the presence of pus) and crust (which are the healing shells).
Skin lesions in the form of blisters can vary from one patient to another and appear on different parts of the body, such as the face, hands, feet, eyes, mouth or genitals.
“Some people have fewer vesicles, or blisters, scattered throughout the body. Others, especially those who have some change in their immunity, either by using medications that lower their immunity, or by diseases that also compromise their immunity or by chemotherapy treatments, may have a greater number of lesions”, explains Gorinchteyn.
Source: CNN Brasil
