‘Reduce your sex partners’, WHO chief advises amid threat of monkeypox

Monkeypox: The threat of monkeypox is increasing continuously around the world. Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has advised that men who are at risk of monkeypox should consider limiting the number of sexual partners for the time being. Recently, the WHO declared the monkeypox epidemic as a global health emergency.

More than 18 thousand cases of monkeypox have been reported in 78 countries. About 70 percent of these cases are from Europe. Most of the infections have occurred in men who have sex with men, especially men who have sex with multiple people.

There are currently four cases in India. Of these, three are from Kerala and one case has been confirmed in Delhi.

symptoms of monkeypox

Monkeypox usually presents with fever, headache, rash for three weeks, sore throat, cough and blisters. Symptoms include sores, which usually begin within one to three days after the onset of fever, last about two to four weeks and are often painful until treatment continues. They also have itching. Monkeypox virus has a special effect in the palms and soles.

According to a research published in the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’, 95 percent of cases were transmitted through sexual activity and 98 percent of those infected were gay or bisexual (having sex with both men and women) men. Research has been done on 528 infected people.

Monkeypox Cases In India: Central government floats tender to make monkeypox vaccine