Monkeypox spreading most among men, so take these precautions in sex life

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said that its first case was reported in May. Since then, 98% of monkeypox cases have been found in gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men. Tedros has advised people to take steps for their own safety. “Men who have sex with men should make safe choices for themselves and others,” he said. For this the number of sexual partners should also be reduced.

Monkeypox apparently spread during sex?

The WHO chief said that a patient infected with monkeypox should isolate himself and avoid going to any crowded place. Along with this, any physical contact or making new sexual partners should also be avoided. However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not made any suggestion to reduce the number of sexual partners. The agency has simply advised not to have skin-to-skin contact with patients infected with monkeypox.

According to WHO, monkeypox can also infect anyone who comes in contact with a patient, his clothing or bedsheets. The health agency has warned that the disease can be more serious in those with weakened immunity, such as children or pregnant women.

WHO adviser Andy Seal said that according to experts, monkeypox apparently spread during sex but they have not yet concluded whether it was a sexually transmitted infection or not.

Will condoms reduce the risk?

Seal said that talk of reducing sexual partners for gay and bisexual people was coming from his own community. Although such a message was only for a few days and we expect that this outbreak will also be only for a short time. Seal said, ‘It is also not clear whether condoms will help reduce the risk of this infection or not because monkeypox is spread through close physical contact like herpes.

He said, ‘Intimacy and closeness during sex is the main reason for transmission.’ Scientists in Spain and Italy detected monkeypox DNA in semen samples from patients, although it is not clear whether the virus is actually spreading this way.

Dr Hugh Adler, who treats monkeypox patients in the UK, said that this virus is spreading due to sex. Networks that have sex with an unknown are working to spread this disease further. There is a possibility that monkeypox has always spread in this way but it may not have been reported before and was not widely reported.

WHO’s monkeypox expert, Rosamund Lewis, said that men who have sex with men are at the highest risk of this infection. About 99% of monkeypox cases occur in men, and at least 95% of them are men who have sex with men. A study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine also found that 98 percent of infected people were gay or bisexual, and 95 percent of cases were spread through sexual activity.

On average, fewer than one person transmitted the virus from people previously infected with monkeypox, which is why previous outbreaks were not so widespread. Lewis said that a person suffering from monkeypox may now be able to transmit the virus to more people because global immunity has also decreased due to reduced vaccination of smallpox. Monkeypox is similar to smallpox but is slightly less severe.

How is monkeypox spreading?

Although monkeypox is mainly spread during sex, but still any person can also be caught by this virus through close physical contact. This also includes hugging and kissing each other in the family of the infected person. It can also happen by sharing towels or bedding of an infected person. At this time, many such cases of monkeypox are also being reported in which women and small children are also getting infected with this virus, although such cases are still very few.

If the wound is in the mouth of an infected person, then monkeypox can also spread through droplets, but it is also possible when you stand in front of the infected person and talk for a long time. Lewis says that if people redue their exposure, the outbreak of monkeypox can still be controlled.

Symptoms of Monkeypox

According to the US CDC, most people who are infected with monkeypox recover in two to four weeks. Due to this virus, rashes occur in the body, which causes a lot of pain. In earlier cases, monkeypox started with flu-like symptoms followed by a rash that spreads throughout the body, but in the current outbreak, the symptoms of monkeypox are unusual.

Some people have a rash first and then flu symptoms, while some people have a rash without any flu symptoms. Many people are feeling rashes near the private part.