Smallpox of monkeys in Italy: what Bassetti, Gismondo, Pregliasco say

Smallpox of monkeys, the first case identified in Italy. Rare viral disease found mostly in tropical countries of central and western Africa, is caused by the Monkeypox virus which belongs to the orthopoxvirus group. Do you have to worry? Here’s what the experts think. Read also Bassetti “I said that we would have cases of monkeypox in Italy, Spain and Portugal are just around the corner. Now it is a European and global problem, we must do very well the tracking and make sure that an outbreak that has left “. Matteo Bassetti, director of infectious diseases of the San Martino Polyclinic in Genoa, underlines this to Adnkronos Health. “One good thing is that anyone who is vaccinated for smallpox should be covered, but this vaccination from 1974 onwards hasn’t been done. A major part of the population doesn’t have the smallpox vaccine and could be discovered,” he warns. “It is a specific cure for smallpox, in general these forms are self-limited, have a duration and then resolve themselves. The risks – explains Bassetti – are those of an intra-human infection, or that there may be transmission to more people if it comes out of these clusters that we have had above all among homosexual people, and it can become a problem “. Gismondo “Absolutely no panic, but maximum attention”: microbologist Maria Rita Gismondo invites you to remain calm, but act quickly. “For now, these are isolated cases – the director of the Laboratory of clinical microbiology, virology and diagnostics of bio-emergencies of the Sacco hospital in Milan comments to Adnkronos Salute – So they are cases that can be absolutely circumscribed, given that they are correctly reported. and they must be limited now “, urges the expert. Pregliasco The increase in cases of monkeypox between Europe and the US, especially after the first Italian case reported by Inmi Spallanzani of Rome in a young man returning from the Canary Islands, “obviously is something that worries us. At the moment, however, it is only necessary proceed correctly with timely reports and specific attention in the laboratories “alerted on the subject. The virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco says no to alarmism, but – consulted by Adnkronos Salute – invites us to act promptly. “We pay attention to suspected cases and activate a national reporting network as for acute pediatric hepatitis” of unknown etiology, is the invitation of the professor at the State University of Milan and medical director of Irccs Galeazzi.