Over 18 000 Monkeypox Cases Worldwide - WHO

According to the organization, over 18 000 monkeypox cases have been reported worldwide from 78 countries,  primarily in Europe.

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WHO said that about 10 percent of patients had been hospitalized in the current outbreak, and five deaths were reported in Africa.

Noting that 98 percent of the cases reported outside the African continent have occurred in homosexual men, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made recommendations to this group. 

Tedros said that consideration should be given to reducing the number of new sexual partners and exchanging contact information with new partners. He said the best approach to stopping this outbreak is to limit the exposure risk. 

The WHO recommends that high-risk groups, including health care personnel and homosexual men with multiple sexual partners, be vaccinated. In this regard, the organization warned that patients get fully protected only several weeks after receiving the second dose of the vaccine. 

Amid ongoing vaccine supply constraints, the WHO urged countries with stockpiles to share them. According to WHO projections, 5 and 10 million vaccine doses will be needed to protect all high-risk groups. 

The WHO Director-General said that some 16 million doses of approved vaccines were available in bulk, meaning it would take several months for the vials to be introduced.

While afflicting Africa for decades, the public health problem that has been neglected worldwide started to get reported outside African countries in May.

People usually suffer mild to moderate symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, and painful skin lesions that resolve over a few weeks.