After more than two years of coronavirus, we see the newly arrived monkeypox as a possible new pandemic. But the big difference with COVID-19 is that monkeypox is a bit of a newcomer. In Africa They have known her very well for decades. It is even suspected that they could have lived with her for centuries. However, until she has not turned upside down United States and Europe (and now also some other countries) has not caught our attention.
Inaki Joypediatrician and medical coordinator of Gambo Rural General Hospital, in Ethiopia, He pointed it out these days on his Twitter account with as much harshness as accuracy. “Until there is a white with monkey poxIt will not be given importance.” That phrase, heard on several occasions from doctors in Democratic Republic of Congoone of the most affected countries in Africa, was a sad prediction of what has finally happened.
Few people on this side of the world knew about monkeypox, but now we are all aware of it. Same thing happened back in the day with ebola. In addition, with the diseases that have attacked us first, such as COVID-19, we have hardly mentioned the situation in Africa. We have accumulated vaccines ad nauseum, without thinking about those countries with fewer resources. Not even out of pure selfishness, because to really talk about group immunity, the ideal would be immunize the entire planeta.
In health issues, selfishness, sometimes conscious and sometimes somewhat unconscious, continues to prevail. Therefore, situations like this have to occur for us to realize it. Because viruses don’t understand skin colors or money or social classes. But unfortunately the economic resources allocated to the health Yes. And the great forgotten are always the same.
The monkeypox situation in Africa
The monkey poxtransmitted by a virus gender orthopoxvirusesreceives this name because it was first described in a laboratory ape, in 1958. However, the first human case took 12 years to discover. It was in 1970when a 9-year-old boy from a village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo contracted what at first seemed like smallpox.
After speaking with the family, the paramedics discovered that they sometimes ate undercooked monkey meat and that the little boy was the only member of the family who had not been vaccinated against smallpox. He was also the only one who had gotten sick from eating that exotic dish. This information about his diet, together with the fact that the symptoms were milder than those of human smallpox, led to suspicions that could finally be confirmed: it was monkeypox, also known as monkeypox. And the good news was that the vaccine had protected the rest of the family from him, so it could also serve to protect against this disease that had not been seen in humans until then.
Since then, cases of monkeypox have been detected in 11 African countries: Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan. Nigeria is one of the most affected countries; Well, as explained by the World Health Organization, since 2017 it has reported more than 500 cases.
There, the lethality is about 3%. However, it is a variable figure, which in other countries and different outbreaks has varied from 1% to 10%, approximately. There are two versions, better known as clades, one mainly affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo and another characteristic of West Africa. The latter it is lighter and it is the one that seems to be running now through Europe, the United States. And now also with few cases in other countries such as Australia or Pakistan. In fact, at the moment all the patients are having a very mild disease.
It is also worth noting that since 2014 there have been some outbreaks in Europe and the United States, but all have been very isolated, with few cases and no community transmission. This is the first time we’ve seen him as a threat, and therefore the first time we seem to care.
Desperate search for vaccines
Despite the lightness of this outbreak, many of the affected countries are already looking at how to stockpile smallpox vaccines. Smallpox was eradicated in the late 1970s, so its vaccine ceased to be administered worldwide in the 1980s.
In its day it was seen that this vaccine offered 85% protection against monkeypox. However, as explained to hypertextual Inaki Joyin Africa it also stopped being administered after considering the disease eradicated.
The pediatrician residing in Ethiopia acknowledges that this is not a disease of particular concern in Africa, where outbreaks of other pathologies are much more serious, such as “pneumonia, HIV, tuberculosis, or malaria”. However, it is curious that in countries like Nigeria, where more than 500 cases have been detected in 5 years, it has not been decided to vaccinate at least the vulnerable population, while here we are looking for vaccines and antivirals by all means. That’s not bad, it’s okay to try to stop breakouts when they start. Luckily, this is a well-known disease and stopping it should go a long way. easier than with COVID-19.
However, all this raises how in health issues there are still first and second class citizens. Diseases that are not talked about until the pustules they cause appear on white skins. Viruses that are not tried to be stopped until they cross the borders of the countries that believe they are invincible. In the last two years we have learned very well that we are not invincible. It is time to take into account that we are not better than anyone else. It is sad that it has to be two viruses in a period of two and a half years that make us open our eyes. Or at least try.