The Health Ministry reports no Monkeypox cases in Romania

After a suspected infection in Suceava turned out to be chickenpox, the Romanian Ministry of Health rejected rumors of monkeypox infections in the country. Rumors began to circulate online after a 43-year-old woman came to the Rădăuţi Municipal Hospital with symptoms of illness. This woman got chickenpox from her family members and was diagnosed with it after a medical exam indicated that she had not been exposed to monkeypox, as previously thought.

The Ministry of Health issued a statement clarifying the circumstances behind the woman's condition and alerting those concerned about the spread of monkeypox. A similar false alarm occurred when a 29-year-old Romanian man from the United Kingdom was diagnosed with monkeypox while on holiday in Greece. The man was also infected with chickenpox, according to testing.

Monkeypox symptoms are similar to those seen in smallpox patients in the past. However, the disease is less severe clinically. Rashes on the skin, high fever, painful muscles, and severe headaches and migraines are all symptoms.

In 1958, the virus was found in monkeys in a Danish laboratory. Human Ebola cases were discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. The majority of cases in recent years have occurred in West Africa and the Congo basin, where the virus is prevalent.

In the last month, however, cases of infection have been documented in nations other than the endemic area. Although monkeypox was previously thought to be limited to Africa and its neighbors, the WHO has now verified 92 cases outside of Africa, the majority of which have been reported in Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.

Close contact with an infected person is required for monkeypox transmission. Unlike the COVID-19 virus, which spreads through the air, monkeypox is transmitted from person to person through skin lesions and bodily fluids. According to the WHO, males who have sex with other men and seek care in primary care and sexual health clinics are at a higher risk of developing the disease.

To avoid an epidemic, European governments have begun to implement monkeypox containment measures. In Belgium, the first country to do so, monkeypox patients were quarantined for 21 days.

According to Romania's Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, 1,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine will be acquired in the case of an outbreak. Authorities in Spain are also working on a plan to purchase thousands of tablets for the loved ones of those who have been diagnosed.

Imvamune or Imvanex, a smallpox vaccine developed by the Danish laboratory Bavarian Nordik, are effective in preventing infection with the closely related monkeypox virus. But not for monkeypox, which was not included in the European Medicines Agency's first authorization (EMA). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States has approved it for both purposes.