For the last few months, we have entered a period in which the effects of the coronavirus epidemic have decreased in our country and in many parts of the world. The number of cases fell, the restrictions were lifted. Just saying that life will be normal again, a new virus news came from Europe and America; monkey flower.
Our bodies, which are now sensitive to viruses and the infectious diseases they cause, immediately went into a panic atmosphere. This disease, which has been seen in 15 countries so far and is caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV); It is closely related to smallpox, which emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries and continued into the 20th century. However, there are of course some differences between them.
Monkeypox and smallpox, viruses under the same virus genus
These two viruses, both of which cause similar lesions on the skin, are found in vertebrates and arthropods as natural hosts. It is among the Orthopoxvirus genus viruses in the Chordopoxvirinae subfamily, which is under the Poxviridae virus family. This is why they are closely related.
The symptoms of the diseases caused by the two viruses are also similar;
Both diseases
- High fever
- Back pain
- Fatigue
symptoms are common. In addition to these symptoms, although rare, abdominal pain and vomiting are also seen in smallpox, while these two symptoms are absent in monkeypox.
The biggest difference between the symptoms of the two diseases is the swelling of the lymph nodes, which is seen in monkey pox but not seen in smallpox. Chills are also among the symptoms of monkeypox.
Another major difference is the lethality rate
Smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases in history, and It is thought to have killed more than 300 million people in the 20th century alone. According to the data announced, 3 out of every 10 people who got the disease died. In monkeypox, this rate is 1 out of every 10 people. So monkeypox is not as deadly as smallpox.
The most effective treatment is the vaccine
Actually, there is no vaccine developed and proven effective for monkeypox. However, it is stated that the smallpox vaccine, which was developed for smallpox and whose application was discontinued after this disease completely disappeared, can be effective at a rate of 85% in monkeypox cases. This means that people who have had the smallpox vaccine in the past (the production of this vaccine was discontinued by the end of the 1970s) may have a milder recovery from monkeypox.
‘Modified virus Ankara (MVA), a more advanced version of the smallpox vaccine known as the first vaccine developed in history and not applied for almost 40 years, was approved in 2019 for the treatment of monkeypox, but is not yet widely used. Another drug approved for monkeypox is tecovirimat (TPOXX), an antiviral drug, and was approved in January 2022.
Source 1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4
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