By Maria Meza Velarde
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that the Monkeypox (Mpox) virus outbreak, which began around a year ago, no longer reaches a level of public health emergency or international concern. However, even with the 90 percent drop in height since March, significant challenges remain. WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated, “While the emergencies of Mpox and COVID-19 are both over, the threat of resurgent waves remains for both…every day WHO continues to respond to more than 50 emergencies globally” (UN, 2023). There is still a risk of resurgence waves for monkeypox, so preventative action and preparedness are vital to responding promptly and adequately if cases are to rise again. Reports by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that in the U.S., men in their early 30s and individuals who are Black/African American, Hispanic, and White are at a higher risk of contracting monkeypox. The U.S. has reported more than 30,000 cases and 43 deaths since May, averaging 7 cases per day (CDC, 2022). Arizona trends in the top 15 states with the highest cumulative number of Mpox cases (KFF, 2023); the latest update as of June 26, 2023, by the Arizona Department of Public Health, states that there have been 592 cases and 37 hospitalizations since May 22, 2022. Monkeypox is considered a “high-threat pathogen causing a disease of health importance” (Sklenovská, N., & Ranst, M. V., 2018). The virus spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids and causes flu-like symptoms with painful pus-filled lesions on the skin (UN, 2023). If it is not controlled, it can easily spread from person to person and, in serious cases, cause life-threatening issues for children and older individuals.
Consequently, there is a pressing need to concentrate on developing surveillance capabilities that will yield useful data for creating appropriate prevention, preparedness, and response operations. Daily habits provide some of the strongest defenses against highly contagious and infectious diseases like monkeypox, so it is important to help share information that will help you protect yourself and others. While monkeypox remains an issue of concern from a worldwide health perspective, with the proper preventative action, regulations, and implementations, progress in the number of cases and health literacy will continue to be made. Since monkeypox is a highly contagious, infectious disease, informing others about the proper protocol, procedures, preventative care, risk factors, and the disease is a major factor in treating and preventing the spread of it. Resources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mayo Clinic, and Penn Medicine provide information about vaccines that protect you against severe illness, hospitalization, and death and how to identify common signs and symptoms. When dealing with highly infectious diseases like monkeypox, strengthening the world’s defenses is fundamental to learning to control and prevent it.
Maria Meza Velarde is a pre-med student majoring in Medical Studies at Arizona State University. She is a member of the 2023 Student Outbreak Response Team.
For more information, visit these resources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, October 31). How to protect yourself. https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/mpox/prevention/protect-yourself.htl
Kaiser Family Foundation. (2023, May 17). Mpox Cases.
https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/monkeypox-cases/?currentTimeframe=0&sor tModel=%7B%22colId%22%3A%22Cases%22%2C%22sort%22%3A%22desc%22%7D
Sklenovská, N., & Ranst, M. V. (2018). Emergence of monkeypox as the most important orthopoxvirus infection in Humans. Front Public Health, 6, 241 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00241
Tosh, P. K. (2022, December 1). Monkeypox: What is it and how can it be prevented? Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/expert-answers/monke ypox-faq/faq-20533608
United Nations. (2023, May 11). Mpox public health emergency declared over. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1136577