Monkeypox: Experts investigating why 12 people have died during outbreak

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Experts are trying to understand why a small number of people have died from the current monkeypox outbreak.

Deaths resulting from the monkeypox outbreak currently stand at 12, according to America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with five of these fatalities in places that have not historically recorded monkeypox, including India and Spain.

More than 38,000 cases have been reported globally. The virus is usually “mild” and most people recover within weeks without the need for treatment, according to the NHS.

The WHO’s technical lead on monkeypox Dr Rosamund Lewis confirmed the organisation has asked countries to provide information on the deaths so that they can develop a better understanding, CNN reports.

The outlet reported that two men who died in Spain, in apparently unrelated cases, both developed encephalitis (swelling of the brain) before falling into comas.

Andrea McCollum, an epidemiologist and pox virus expert at CDC, told CNN: “Why some of these patients have encephalitis is something we don’t know.”

McCollum added: “We are aware of a good number of patients here [in the United States] that have been hospitalised… so it still is a very serious illness.”

She added that in Central Africa’s Congo Basin, a higher percentage of monkeypox cases are fatal, largely because most of the population has not been vaccinated even against the smallpox virus, which does offer some protection against monkeypox.

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Campaign group Global Justice Now says that not a single vaccine has been administered in Africa since the outbreak began in May, and has called on the company making the smallpox vaccine being used globally to share its manufacturing method so that more jabs can be produced.

In the US, those who are being hospitalised may simply need pain management, whereas some people with risk factors like lowered immunity, HIV, pregnancy, or young children may have to be admitted so doctors can closely monitor them.

Among the most common symptoms of monkeypox are lesions on the genitals and anus, fever, swollen lymph nodes, and body aches and pains; monkeypox usually clears up after a few weeks, and the vast majority of those who catch it will not die or need to be hospitalised.

Let's talk about #monkeypox : the virus, the symptoms & how it spreads