Smallpox virus is old, but has different behavior, says WHO director

In Brazil, more than 800 cases of monkey pox according to the Ministry of Health.

The cases were registered in São Paulo (595), Rio de Janeiro (109), Minas Gerais (42), Distrito Federal (13), Paraná (19), Goiás (16), Bahia (3) , Ceará (2), Rio Grande do Sul (3), Rio Grande do Norte (2), Espírito Santo (2), Pernambuco (3), Mato Grosso do Sul (1) and Santa Catarina (3).

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern due to the monkeypox outbreak on Saturday (23).

In an interview with CNN the WHO director-general for access to medicines and pharmaceuticals, Mariângela Simão, stated that prior knowledge of the smallpox virus allows for the adoption of effective public health measures to control the disease.

“We are dealing with a virus that is better known. Monkeypox virus is a ‘relative’ of the smallpox virus and which has been known for decades. It was already endemic in some African countries and what was observed this year was a very unusual behavior, a behavior different from this virus”, says Mariângela.

“It was concentrated in some African countries and had a number of people who were affected annually and we are seeing sustained transmission in other regions of the world, it is present today in six regions of the world”, adds the specialist.

The WHO director believes that the declaration of emergency is a measure that will facilitate the fight against the disease, with investment in diagnosis and training of health teams to pay attention to signs and symptoms.

“Most cases are not widespread in the general population yet. The moment of declaring a public health emergency is a very good moment to encourage collaboration and reinforce what we learned from Covid. Quickly, countries have already put more investment into faster diagnosis of this virus.”

According to Mariângela, at the moment the smallpox vaccine is indicated for priority groups, including people who have had contact with confirmed cases of the disease, health professionals at risk, laboratory teams that work with orthopoxvirus and specialists in clinical analysis who perform diagnosis for the disease. illness.