ANP Productions | Bron: ANP
Bilthoven
The number of people in the Netherlands who have been diagnosed with the monkey pox virus has risen to 656. Since the last update, last Thursday, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has registered 107 positive tests. 153 infections have been confirmed since last Monday, which corresponds to the growth rate in the weeks before.
The number of women who tested positive has increased from one to three. Earlier, a “child of primary school age” appeared to have been infected. Most people who have tested positive are men who have sex with men (MSM).
Those who contract monkey pox can suffer from fever, headache, muscle aches and general malaise. After a few days, a rash with blisters appears on the skin. Usually people don’t get very sick from an infection. One patient in the Netherlands has been in hospital to be treated for skin complaints associated with the infection. He has recovered and is back home. Monkeypox is not a venereal disease, but mainly spreads through skin-to-skin contact. Anyone can contract the virus.
The monkeypox virus is currently relatively common among men who have sex with men. Experts are therefore taking into account new infections around the upcoming pride events, such as Pride Amsterdam. “With several MSM events (such as prides) planned in the coming months, there is a chance of more intensive distribution than is already the case, with an international component as well,” the so-called Expert Council advised the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the end of June. Public health. That meeting includes the Dutch College of General Practitioners, the Association for Infectious Diseases, STI Aids Nederland and the Working Group on Sexual Health and STIs. The consultation is convened by the Center for Infectious Disease Control of the RIVM, led by Jaap van Dissel.
Pride Amsterdam, the most famous pride in the Netherlands, will be held from July 30 to August 7. A spokesperson for the event said after the advice of the Expert Council: “You must be careful not to stigmatize by addressing a very general group about this. RIVM talks about men who have sex with men, but the Pride community is much wider than that.” He believes that the program of the event is also far from this. “You don’t go to Pride for changing contacts, but to express yourself for equal rights and to be who you want.”