With the report of a Monkeypox-infected person from Sri Lanka, there has been a lot of attention in society and the Health Promotion Bureau has notified the public in this regard.
Monkeypox has recently shown rapid spread and has now spread to 109 countries, infecting nearly 78,000 people and causing 36 deaths worldwide.
The Health Promotion Bureau mentioned that the virus may enter the body of a healthy person through close contact with an infected person, and blisters and wounds caused by the disease, other bodily fluids, infected respiratory droplets, and bed sheets that the infected person has recently used may contain the virus.
Generally, symptoms appear 5-21 days after the virus is ingested, and the most common symptoms are fever, swollen lymph nodes, muscle pain, and blisters with severe body fatigue. Blisters usually appear 1-3 days after the onset of fever and are mainly seen on the face, hands and soles. Apart from this, there are cases of painful blisters/sores in the mucous membranes of the mouth, genitals and eyes.
Various blood tests and PCR tests are used to confirm the disease and until all the blisters are healed and all the crusts from them fall off and heal, a monkeypox-infected person has the possibility of being a disease carrier and this usually heals on its own within 2-4 weeks. Although it is a self-limiting disease, there is some risk of complications in immunocompromised people and young children.
In order to prevent the disease, it is recommended to avoid close physical contact (especially skin-to-skin contact) with people with such symptoms, confirmed or suspected, and to avoid contact with the equipment used by that person immediately if the above-suspected symptoms are present. The Health Promotion Bureau informs the public that it is important to seek medical advice and avoid close physical contact with others until complete recovery.
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