It’s not just monkeypox, you can get this too – Monkeypox has raised the alarm in recent months, with several countries reporting cases of the disease, which to date has accumulated more than 16.600 cases worldwide, 70% of them in Europe (data collected by the World Health Organisation).
National Geographic magazine, in its article “How contagious is monkeypox—and should you get a vaccine? Here’s the latest.”, explains that at the moment, according to expert opinion, it does not qualify as such.
“In a world exhausted by two-plus years of the coronavirus pandemic, another disease, monkeypox, continues to spread more rapidly than ever before. It’s a very different virus from the one that causes COVID-19, and is much harder to transmit, but it can land patients in the hospital.”
What are the symptoms of monkeypox?
According to the CDC (Center for Communicable Diseases), people infected with monkeypox may exhibit the following symptomatology:
- Fever
- Chills
- Inflammation of the lymph nodes
- Exhaustion
- Muscle and back pain
- Headache
- Respiratory symptoms (e.g. sore throat, nasal congestion or cough)
However, monkeypox is only one type of smallpox. It can be confused with 3 other diseases, which have very similar symptoms, and if not diagnosed correctly, the recovery process can be affected.
Chickenpox, enterovirus and shingles (herpes zoster)
As we explain on our website www.medmesafe.com, the symptoms of all of them are very similar.
In addition to all these symptoms, the skin is the organ most affected. With the presence of sores or better known as lesions, these viruses manifest themselves through reddened pustules, in several cases itchy and uncomfortable.
If you have recently had one or more of these symptoms, we recommend you take the Monkeypox, Shingles, Chickenpox or Enterovirus Test, which will tell you from a sample of the lesions on your skin which virus you are suffering from.
It is also important to note that many of us have been vaccinated against smallpox at a very young age, you may not have a record of this or other vaccinations, so you can take a vaccination test and find out which diseases and viruses you are protected against.
Diveana Rodriguez
Content Marketing Specialist for websites and social networks +10 years experience in creative writing for different fields AIESEC Alumni Bachelor of Social Communication with specialization in Marketing and Corporate Communications (UCAB)