Monkeypox: Gay pipo dey more at risk to catch monkeypox? See wetin scientist tok about how you fit catch am

Many cases for di current outbreak for Europe don dey identified in males wey don involve in sex wit other males and dis one don raise concerns

But monkeypox no dey considered as a sexually transmitted infection according to health authorities.

WHO expert Andy Seale say: “While we dey see some cases in men e no be 'gay disease' as some pipo and social media don label am. Anybodi fit contract dis disease through close contact.”

Sexually transmitted diseases need sexual contact to transmit am, whereas “you no need to get sexual contact to transmit monkeypox,” im tok.

E add am say relatively high number of men wey dey have sex wit men wey don report di disease may be explained by di fact say dis group dey more proactive wen dem see symptoms.

Seale say. "We sabi say [men who dey have sex wit men] if dem spot an unusual rash, e dey likely say dem go want sort am out quite quickly."

So, wetin we sabi about monkeypox?

At least 92 cases of monkeypox na im dem don confam outside Africa for Europe, di US, Canada and Australia, according to di World Health Organization (WHO).

Dem don dey investigate anoda 28 suspected cases for 12 kontris wia monkeypox no usually dey endemic, di organisation tok.

But WHO experts don drag am say we no dey not see “new Covid” and dem fit “contain” di current outbreak.

Wetin be monkeypox?

Monkeypox na disease wey monkeypox virus dey cause. No be di same family as di smallpox virus, but e dey less severe.

Dem dey usually find di disease for Central Africa and West Africa, and more specifically, for rainforest areas.

For di Democratic Republic of Congo, parts of wia plenty forest dey, dem don report more than 1,200 cases dis year alone and 57 deaths recorded (as of 1 May 2022), according to di WHO.

Wetin be symptoms of monkeypox?

Initial symptom na fever, headaches, swellings, back pain, aching muscles.

Afta dis, rash go start and e dey start wit red areas on di skin, then e go begin swell, then to vesicles or blisters, and then to pustules, Dr Rosamund Lewis, di head of di WHO smallpox secretariat tok.

After dat e fo begin to dry and scab, and di scab falls off, she tok.

Di rash go dey scratch or e go dey painful, but Dr Amesh Adalja of di Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security ifor di US say e get better over time.

“Di rash go later reduce, and most pipo no dey get major complications,” im tell BBC.

Di infection usually clears up on its own and last between 14 and 21 days.

How monkeypox dey spread?

Monkeypox fir spread to humans from one infected animal like a monkey, a rat or squirrel.

Human-to-human transmission no really dey common, but e fit happun wen someone dey in close contact wit infected pesin.

Dem dey transmit di infection through broken skin, di respiratory tract, di eyes and di mouth.

Touching contaminated clothing, bedding or towels of pesin wit di monkeypox rash fit also spread di disease.

Monkeypox fit kill?

Monkeypox na usually self-limited disease, according to di WHO, but severe cases fit happun.

In recent times, di case fatality ratio don dey around 3-6%, but di explanation for dis figure dey complex.

“Sometimes you see fatality rates up to 10%. But those one dey hard to understand because many of dem na pipo wey dey resource poor areas wia dem fit no get access to aggressive supportive care,” Dr Adalja tok am.

E get two variants of di disease, known as di West African and Central African - di current outbreak of monkeypox don dey linked to di former.

“Di good news be say di West African version of dis monkeypox virus dey less severe than di Central African one. So dat na di good news say less pipo dey expected to develop serious illness wit dis variant,” Professor Catherine Bennett, one epidemiologist for Deakin University for Melbourne, tell di BBC.

Wetin be di treatment?

Treatment for monkeypox dey primarily focused on relieving symptoms.

Antivirals dey available but dia effectiveness “dey depend on very early detection of infection,” Prof Bennett tok.

Although e no get specific vaccine for di virus, di smallpox vaccine na 85% effective against monkeypox, according to di WHO.

But Prof Bennett say we no go dey “look to vaccinate di whole population” like Covid.

Some older people don collect vaccine from previous smallpox vaccination programmes (dem eradicate di disease for 1980), but dem fit use vaccines to protect healthcare workers wey dey work in higher-risk settings.