The first two cases of death from monkeypox were recorded in Europe. Both deaths were reported by Spanish health authorities.
Reuters writes about it.
The Spaniards reported the first death on Friday, and on Saturday it became known about the second. The first death from monkeypox was also reported in Brazil. Thus, these are the first fatal cases of the disease outside of Africa.
In Spain, it was reported that the first patient died of encephalitis, which developed against the background of infection with monkeypox. The cause of death of the second person has not yet been named.
A total of 4,300 cases of infection in Spain, of which 3.2% of people were hospitalized.
- Monkeypox is a rare infection that is mostly spread by wild animals in West and Central Africa. It is possible to become infected by contact with an infected animal, but scientists are not sure what exactly with a monkey — in their opinion, smallpox is transmitted to humans by rodents. A person can catch monkeypox if they are bitten by an infected animal or if a person comes into contact with animal fluids: blood, feces, saliva, etc. You can also get infected if you eat undercooked meat. At the same time, the disease spreads very rarely between people and is easily tolerated.
- This type of smallpox is characterized by fever and rashes. There is no special vaccine against monkeypox, but scientists are sure that the vaccine against common smallpox is also effective. In addition, it can be injected after contact with an infected person — this will greatly facilitate the course of the disease.
- Monkeypox has already been detected in some countries neighboring Ukraine, such as Poland and Romania. The chief sanitary doctor of Ukraine, Ihor Kuzin, believes that the risks of this disease for Ukraine are quite low. At the same time, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, declared the monkeypox outbreak "a public health emergency."