European health authorities announced, Thursday, that a total of 17,897 cases of monkeypox have already been recorded in Europe, with Portugal being the sixth country with the highest infection rate, out of a total of 710 infected people.
The data were included in the joint publication of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Regional Delegation of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Europe, which revealed that as of August 9, 17,897 cases of smallpox had been identified. Monkeys in 41 countries and territories across the European region.
By European countries, Portugal ranks sixth with the most cases (710), surpassed only by Spain (5162), Germany (2982), the United Kingdom (2973), France (2,423) and the Netherlands (959), according to figures published today.
Also at the European level, health authorities in 35 countries have reported 17,509 cases to the CDC and the WHO regional delegation, of which 17,402 have been laboratory confirmed.
Most of the reported cases in Europe fall into the age group 31-40
After the first symptoms were reported, at the European level, on April 3, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization for Europe clarified that most of those infected are currently between 31 and 40 years old (40%) and they are male (99%). ) that have symptoms such as rash, fever, fatigue, muscle aches, chills or headache.
Of the total, there were already 455 cases of people in hospitals, of whom 163 required clinical care, such as admission to intensive care units.
The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization for Europe say that, to date, 48 cases of monkeypox have been reported from health workers, but no occupational exposure has been attributed.
There have also been two deaths of infected people in Europe.
Portugal with 710 registered cases
In Portugal, according to the latest data released by the Directorate General of Health (DGS), last Thursday, the number of confirmed cases of monkeypox increased to 710, of which 77 were identified last week. According to the DGS, among the pool of cases reported in the epidemiological surveillance system, most belong to the age group between 30 and 39 years and are male, with four cases now being female.
The presence of monkeypox in Portugal was first detected three months ago, on May 3. On July 16, the first close contacts of the cases began to be vaccinated, and so far 73 people have been vaccinated, out of 104 contacts considered eligible (70.2%).
The most common symptoms of the disease are fever, severe headache, muscle aches, back pain, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes with a progressive rash affecting the skin and mucous membranes.
A sick person is no longer contagious until after complete recovery and crusting of the skin lesions, a period that may eventually exceed four weeks.
