What We Know About Monkeypox

A rare disease called monkeypox, a less severe version of smallpox, is currently making a global impact. According to the World Health Organization, more than 250 cases have been reported in approximately 16 countries. Experts have found that the disease is spread by close and prolonged contact with an infected individual.

Monkeypox is found in the proximity of tropical rainforests in central and west Africa, but it has slowly increased its reach. In the United States, the first appearance of monkeypox this year was diagnosed in a patient hospitalized in Massachusetts who had recently visited Canada. In 2021, two travelers from Nigeria to the US were diagnosed with the disease. Cases in other areas of the world than Africa are linked to international travel or imported animals infected with pox.

Initial Symptoms

Initial symptoms are typically flu-like, so it is common to experience fever, chills, fatigue, headache, and muscle weakness, followed by swelling in the lymph nodes, which help the body battle infection and disease. Next is a widespread rash on the face and body and the palms of the hands and feet. The painful, raised poxes are round and fluid-filled, often surrounded by red circles. The CDC said the lesions finally scab over and resolve over two to three weeks. Overall, monkeypox risk is higher for people with multiple sexual partners and low for the general population.

How is Monkeypox Spread?

Experts say that close contact with an infected individual is required to spread the monkeypox virus. Infection to monkeypox can develop after exposure to broken skin, mucous membranes, respiratory droplets, infected body fluids, and even contact with contaminated linen. According to WHO, this puts healthcare workers and household members caring for or living with someone who is actively infected at greater risk.

Monkeypox Treatment

There are no specific drugs on the market to treat the symptoms of monkeypox. However, a vaccine is available that can be provided to prevent disease development and exposure. Currently, in the US, a two-dose vaccine called Jynneos is licensed to avoid monkeypox and can also be used for smallpox. The US government has stockpiled the vaccine in case the eradicated disease resurgences.

ABOUT FRANCESCA ROME-MARIES

Based in Rome, Italy, Francesca Rome-Marie is a compassionate and dedicated healthcare professional who has spent her life building a career in the service of others. She works in areas focused on health, humanitarian aid, and human development particularly focused on the nonprofit/not-for-profit sectors doing work in underserved and marginalized communities.

Throughout her career, Francesca Rome-Marie’s work and experience have helped her to develop skills in multiple areas. Her experience includes family medicine, nursing, family nursing, primary care, community health, mental health, global health, medicine, research, reproductive health, preventative medicine, and family nursing. She is also skilled in areas that include human rights activism, crisis counselling, sexuality education, gender theory, gender studies, cross-cultural communication skills, humanitarian assistance and intervention, interpersonal communication, nonprofit organizations, and disaster response, recovery, and preparedness. She is also known for her collaborative problem-solving abilities and disaster risk reduction capabilities.

Francesca Rome-Marie has developed a particular passion for work in areas regarding sexuality and gender as well as refugees, forced displacement, health, and rights. She is especially focused on improving access to care, visibility, and research while implementing programs dedicated to vulnerable populations, including women, girls, LGBTQI+ individuals, and sex workers, including any individuals who overlap between the three. She has worked previously doing research on LGBTQI needs within the humanitarian sphere.

As part of her work in mental health and gender studies, Francesca Rome-Marie understands just how deeply a role that respect for individual dignity and sovereignty plays when it comes to making decisions about one’s own body and life. She has developed a commitment to viewing an individual’s mental and physical health through the lens of not only gender, sexual, and reproductive rights but also gender-based violence.