Monkey pox: a new variant of Monkeypox spotted in the United States, should we be worried? – The Independent

Monkey pox, should we be worried? Certainly you have already come across an article with a title as anxiety-inducing as it is quickly reassuring. Indeed, as impressive as it is, both at the level of the symptoms (in particular the pustules) and at the level of the title, the transmission of Monkeypox is difficult. Its mortality rate is very, very low. And the “classic” smallpox vaccine remains very effective (85%). Despite all these arguments, nearly two and a half years of health crisis have done their work, and the slightest virus calls out. Monkeypox in the first place! To read also: Monkey pox: what new barrier gestures come into force in the United States with the transition to the second level of alert? Two variants, one strain This Monday, the bar of 1,000 cases worldwide was reached. And the United States has announced the availability of 36,000 vaccines for people at risk after raising the alert level (2) which recommends, among other things, the wearing of masks for travelers. Another piece of information also brings back bad memories: the circulation of two variants in European and non-endemic countries (in other words where the disease is not an epidemic). Information reported by the CDC – Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States – and confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and taken up by Fox News. Two variants which would descend from the same stock, that of West Africa, deemed less dangerous than that of the Congo for example. But which manifests itself in equally spectacular symptoms: similar to the flu at first, before a terrible rash in a second. A strain that had already been detected in previous years in the USA before the outbreak of cases around the world this year.