The state secretary of Science, Research and Development in Health of São Paulo, David Uip, said, this Saturday (23), in an interview with CNN that the decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare monkeypox a global public health emergency was courageous and timely.
“I have been saying for days that this decision was necessary. Adequate, courageous and timely. We have an increase in the number of cases in several countries around the world. There is community transmission, people are contaminating themselves without having traveled. It is a transmission that is simple, through close contact”, says Uip.
“So, the decision was absolutely adequate and facilitates the public policies that countries must take”, he adds.
For Uip, special care needs to be taken with communication about the disease, and not relating it to monkeys.
“We have to come up with a better name. The name is not good and has no connection with what is being discovered. Transmission is from person to person. The monkey has nothing to do with it,” he explains.
Despite the name of the infection, monkeys are not responsible for transmitting smallpox. In fact, they are victims of viruses just like human beings. Monkeypox is a disease transmitted primarily by intimate contact and exchange of secretions between people.
The Ministry of Health confirmed 696 cases of monkeypox in the country. São Paulo is the state with the highest number of infections so far: 506.
Following are Rio de Janeiro (102), Minas Gerais (33), Goiás (14), Federal District (13), Paraná (11), Bahia (3), Rio Grande do Sul (3), Pernambuco (3) , Ceará (2), Rio Grande do Norte (2), Espírito Santo (2), Mato Grosso do Sul (1) and Santa Catarina (1).
(*With information from Gabrielle Varella and Renata Souza, from CNN)
Source: CNN Brasil
