It is in the country most affected in the world by the epidemic according to the WHO, Spain, that a second person suffering from monkeypox died in Europe, and this, the day after the announcement of the first death in the country.
“Among the 3,750 patients (…), 120 cases were hospitalized and two died,” said the Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies in its latest report published on Saturday.
They are "two young men" suffering from "monkey pox", explained the Ministry of Health, without providing the precise cause of death.
The authorities say they are awaiting the results of more "epidemiological information".
However, it is known that the second death concerns a 31-year-old man who was hospitalized in the Reina Sophie hospital in Cordoba, in the south of the country, according to a press release from the Andalusian authorities.
“The samples taken during the autopsy should make it possible to determine whether the cause of death was meningoencephalitis or another pathology,” they added.
In Spain, health falls under the competence of the regions, so they are the ones who are empowered to communicate this kind of detail.
- Increase in deaths to be expected in Europe -
These are the first deaths in Europe of people infected with monkeypox. Friday, Brazil had announced a death, without it being known each time if the virus is indeed the cause of these deaths.
In total, counting this new announcement from Madrid, eight deaths have been recorded worldwide since May, with the first five reported in Africa, where the disease is endemic and was first detected in humans in 1970. .
With 3,738 cases according to the latest WHO report and the first two deaths recorded in Europe, Spain is the most affected country in the world, ahead of the United States (3,478).
But the Spanish Ministry of Health identifies many more: 4,298 cases as of Saturday.
Most of the contamination is concentrated in Europe, where 70% of the 18,000 cases detected since the beginning of May are located and 25% in the Americas, according to the director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The WHO Regional Office also predicts an increase in the number of deaths linked to monkeypox, even if it stresses that severe complications remain rare and very often the disease is cured on its own, without require treatment.
The aim must be "to quickly interrupt the transmission of the virus in Europe and put a stop to this epidemic", said in a press release Catherine Smallwood, an emergency situation manager for WHO Europe.
In most cases, the patients are men who have sex with men, relatively young, and living mainly in towns.
The first symptoms are high fever, swollen lymph nodes and a rash similar to chickenpox.
On July 24, the WHO triggered the highest level of alert, the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (USPPI), to strengthen the fight against monkey pox, also called monkeypox.
For now, the WHO stresses that there are not vaccines for everyone and therefore recommends prioritizing those who are most at risk, those who are sick and those who treat or make them. of research.
Vaccination is carried out with two doses, spaced at least 28 days apart. For people vaccinated against smallpox in childhood, one dose is enough. For the immunocompromised a third dose is recommended.
