By Cristina Hodgson • Published: 04 Dec 2019 • 13:32
IT HAS BEEN reported that a person in England has been diagnosed with the rare viral infection monkeypox as reported by Public Health England (PHE).
As Euro Weekly News understands, the patient is believed to have contracted the infection while visiting Nigeria and is currently being treated at the specialist high consequence infectious disease centre at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London.
Close contacts of the patient, including those who travelled in close proximity to them on the flight from Nigeria to the UK, are being contacted.
PHE has informed that the patient was staying in south-west England before they were transferred to Guy’s and St Thomas’ where they are working with the NHS to implement a ‘rapid infection control procedures, including contacting people who might have been in close contact with the individual’.
According to the NHS Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus.
Most cases have been in Africa. The risk of catching monkeypox in the UK is very low.
It’s usually a mild illness that will get better on its own without treatment. Some people can develop more serious symptoms, so patients with monkeypox in the UK are cared for in specialist hospital
Symptoms of monkeypox
The illness begins with:
A rash usually begins 1 to 5 days after the first symptoms appear. The spots often start on the face before spreading to other parts of the body.
During the illness the rash changes from raised red bumps, to spots filled with fluid. The spots eventually form scabs which later fall off.
How monkeypox is spread
Monkeypox does not spread easily between people, but it’s possible to catch it from:
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