- The WHO recommends that the names of the diseases should avoid referring to countries or animals, but should have neutral terms.
- The first cases of monkeypox in animals were detected in 1958, while the first human case occurred in 1970.
- For decades it was a disease exclusive to Africa until this 21st century spread to the rest of the planet.
2022 will be remembered in different ways from a health point of view. On the one hand, the Covid-19 pandemic reached its lowest levels in two years. While one of the least favorable parts was the resurgence of monkeypox or monkeypox and now, after several months of analysis, it has become official that its new name will be MPOX.
In this sense, one of the highest recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) when choosing the name of a pathology is never to allude to countries or animals but must have neutral terms.
The problem of choosing incorrect names for diseases
The reason is to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past so as not to generate stigma or discriminatory acts. It is only necessary to remember what happened a century ago with the spanish flu. Although it is proven that the first cases were not generated in Spain but in the United States, it is the name by which it was known throughout the planet.
Similarly, when the The first variants of Covid-19 used the names of the countries where the infections arose. For a time they were called English and South African until a radical change was made. To avoid confusion, the WHO designated the letters of the Greek alphabet to classify the most dangerous. In this way they were born Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron.
With this context, the portal Political made official that the monkeypox or monkeypox will now be known as MPOX. It is about his new name that was proposed by officials of the Joe Biden administration in the United States. After an in-depth analysis, the World Health Organization (WHO) accepted the recommendation.
WHO to rename ‘Monkeypox’ to ‘MPOX’ at Biden admin’s request https://t.co/mzZ77NuNxE
—Fox News (@FoxNews) November 23, 2022
History of the disease
Now, although some think that it is a new disease, it is actually quite old. The first documented case in the medical literature occurred in animals in 1958. While the first human contagion was recorded in 1970.
It is a disease caused by an orthopoxvirus of the smallpox familywhich was the first disease eradicated by humans thanks to coordinated public health actions.
Now, one of the main problems of the monkeypox or MPOX is that for decades it was exclusive to Africa. On the other hand, in 2003 some cases were registered in other regions of the planet but the outbreak could be controlled in time.
Instead, this 2022 spread for the first time to Europe and then to the rest of the planet. The problem has been so serious that even the WHO has already declared it as a international health emergency.
Also read:
WHO requests to change the name to monkeypox for this reason
This is the updated medical guide for the approach to monkeypox
Monkeypox, is it really a deadly disease?