10 facts that children and parents must know about monkey pox

What do we know about monkey pox? How long does it take from infection to the onset of the disease? Is it true that children are more contagious than adults? What are the symptoms of the disease and how is it diagnosed? Is monkey pox dangerous? • All the answers to all the questions

Following reports around the world of an outbreak of monkey pox and a first case identified in Israel a week ago, when the information about it is contradictory, blurry and stressful, Prof. Efi Bilevsky, a senior physician in Department of Pediatrics C and an infectious disease specialist at Schneider Medical Center, answers all questions.

1. What do we know about monkey pox?
   It is a disease that is transmitted from animal to person (also called zoonotic disease) and can also be transmitted from person to person.
   Despite the name of the virus, it appears not only among monkeys but also among many rodents and pets.
   As we will see in the last outbreak, transmission from person to person is quite possible and it is done through direct contact, use of the same clothes or bedding or through respiratory drops (saliva).
2. Is there a link between monkey pox and smallpox?
   Monkeypox belongs to a family of viruses called Poxvirus. This family also includes the smallpox virus, which became extinct more than 30 years ago.
3. How long does it take from infection to the onset of the disease?
   The incubation period of monkey pox is in the range of 5 days to 21 days, usually the outbreak of the disease will be between 6-13 days from the time of exposure to the virus.
4. Is it true that children are more contagious than adults?
   Unfortunately it seems that children are more infected than adults with this virus. This may be related to the fact that some adults were vaccinated in childhood against smallpox, a vaccine that protects in some way against the monkeypox virus.
5. What are the symptoms of the disease?
   The symptoms of monkey pox are fever, muscle aches, headaches, exhaustion and enlargement of lymph nodes even before a rash appears. A rash will appear between one and three days from the onset of symptoms, a typical rash begins as a raised rash, beginning in the facial area, which will later turn into a blister with scabs.
6. How long does the disease last?
   The disease is active for two weeks to a month and will pass in most cases without specific treatment. This disease, like many viral diseases, can cause a secondary bacterial infection such as a skin infection, pneumonia or encephalitis (low-risk encephalitis).
7. How will doctors diagnose the monkey smallpox virus?
   First of all it should be suspected that this is a virus, especially in cases of exposure to a person who has been ill or if there are findings on physical examination that are suitable for infection such as a typical rash. A final microbiological diagnosis is made using a PCR test.
8. What is happening in the current global outbreak?
   In the current outbreak, dozens of cases of people with monkey pox have been identified in many countries around the world.
9. Is monkey pox dangerous?
   Unlike smallpox which was a very severe and even fatal disease, monkey pox is considered a milder disease in terms of the course of the disease and has a very low mortality rate. In addition it is important to remember that the existing information on the severity of these diseases is taken from outbreaks that occurred about five decades ago, in different regions of the world. Today in western countries very advanced medical treatment is given for these diseases as well.
10. Is there a vaccine designed for monkey pox?
    There are vaccines against smallpox today, which also protect against monkey pox. At present, this is not a vaccine that is routinely given in the Western world and does not currently appear to enter the vaccination routine of the entire population.