What Italian experts say about monkeypox (mpox)
Round of opinions and predictions from Italian experts on the monkeypox (mpox) epidemic which broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was classified as an "international emergency" by the WHO
Since last week the epidemic of monkeypox, renamed mpox, has been classified as an "international emergency" by the World Health Organization (WHO) following the high number of cases that broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo caused by a new strain of virus (clade 1b, subtype of clade 1), later also identified in other countries on the continent .
The main novelty concerns the fact that this clade seems to be more dangerous and more transmissible, especially through non-sexual contact . Furthermore, children have been hit the hardest so far.
Outside Africa, clade 1b was found in an imported case in Sweden , while in the two patients who tested positive for mpox – one in Pakistan returning from a Gulf country and the other in the Philippines without having traveled – it was not strain has not yet been determined. Although the WHO has said it expects more cases to emerge outside Africa soon, including due to intensified monitoring, the agency has advised against any travel restrictions to stop the spread of the virus, and China has reported that intends to monitor people and goods entering the country for the next six months.
Meanwhile, while the African continent is looking for a strategy to contain the disease also through the administration of vaccines available for prevention , here is what some Italian experts think and predict.
WHAT THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH IS DOING
Reassurances on the situation in Italy came from the Ministry of Health: "The epidemiological situation in Italy is currently under control as no cases of the new strain (clade I) of mpox have been confirmed". This was reported by Mara Campitiello, head of the Prevention department of the Ministry of Health. “Our offices – he explained – are in constant contact with international bodies, to develop shared measures”.
Campitiello then added that the ministry "has activated the operational channels with AIFA and ISS for the planning of risk containment strategies in the event of a change in the current scenario" and "we are proceeding with the strengthening of the diagnostic surveillance network on everything the national territory".
Regarding vaccines, "the national stock is currently sufficient to guarantee the needs and we are preparing a new information circular to the Regions with indications to the population and operators involved in border sites". Furthermore, "the evaluation of the establishment of an inter-ministerial table in agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Economy and Finance, Interior and Transport is underway to agree operational plans to combat the spread of the pathogen with an organized strategic approach ”.
SPALLANZANI: NO EMERGENCY IN ITALY
The director of the Clinical Department of the Lazzaro Spallanzani Institute in Rome, Andrea Antinori , also reassured us about the situation in our country: "There is currently no mpox emergency in the Peninsula, the situation is under control".
“Surveillance measures must rightly be strengthened. We know the disease and how it manifests itself but we also have a very effective vaccine indicated for those at risk. […] At greatest risk are those who have close contact, especially sexual, with potentially infected people. For the general Italian population there is no danger, the situation is constantly monitored", reiterated Antinori.
This is echoed by Roberto Cauda , director of the Infectious Diseases Unit of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic and Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Catholic University, who spoke about the possible need for vaccination: “I don't think mass but selective vaccination will be needed. Are we on the eve of Covid? I would say no, the WHO reassurances allow us to say so. Transmission is different, furthermore we know the virus, there is a vaccine."
BASSETTI: BEWARE OF IMPORT CASES
After the WHO's decision, Matteo Bassetti, director of the infectious diseases department of the San Martino polyclinic hospital in Genoa, wrote on settle in areas where it was not present until now". For this reason, according to the expert, "it is necessary to organize ourselves quickly with all treatment and prophylactic measures to avoid global spread" since "there could be imported cases linked to travel, even in our country".
Scenario also hypothesized by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which last Friday raised the risk level for MPOX and the head of the EU public health body declared that "in the coming weeks further cases of importation of the new Mpox strain into Europe will occur, even if the risk of lasting transmission remains low."
Bassetti then hypothesized that the increase in infections among children was most likely due to the fact that the mothers had "smallpox lesions on the external genitalia so that the newborns may have become infected during birth, or after birth because they come into contact with with lesions either on the breasts or on the mouth or other parts of the mother's body".
MASTROIANNI (SIMIT) AND PREGLIASCO: NO ALARMS
Claudio Maria Mastroianni, past president of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases and full professor of Infectious Diseases at the Sapienza University of Rome, after the discovery of the first case in the EU, urged "no alarmism, just a lot of caution". In fact, according to the expert "in Italy there is no mpox risk but we need to keep our guard up".
Mastroianni then added that once "we have identified the subjects who have had to deal with countries at risk of mpox and who present the typical symptoms of the virus, i.e. fever, headache, asthenia and the appearance of fluid-filled blisters all over the body, it is necessary that they are subjected to tests and visited by a specialist who can ascertain the disease". If the patient is positive for the mpox virus “all precautions are triggered, i.e. isolation of the patient, which can also take place at home, not necessarily in hospital, until the vesicles disappear. The objective is to protect the elderly and frail."
Fabrizio Pregliasco, virologist at the University of Milan, also told Sky TG24 that it is "important not to cause alarmism, but to interpret this message from the WHO as the need to put a spotlight on this pathology, which has been somehow looms large and creates problems."
CICCOZZI'S PREDICTION ON THE NEXT PANDEMIC
Professor Massimo Ciccozzi , professor of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics at the Campus Bio-Medico University Polyclinic Foundation in Rome, who already has seven works under his belt on mpox, joins the appeal to remain calm: “No terrorism, the key words are prevention and monitoring. I consider Mpox a travel sickness."
Ciccozzi, who considers it "very unlikely" that mpox will become a global disease, however hypothesized that the next pandemic could be avian flu since "it has already made the leap from species".
BROCCOLI: UPDATE TESTS
Finally, virologist Francesco Broccolo , from the University of Salento, underlined the “growing need to update diagnostic tests for monkeypox due to the current shortage of antiviral drugs and preventive and post-infectious vaccines”.
“Currently – he explained -, the diagnosis is based exclusively on clinical criteria, such as the appearance of macules, papules, vesicles and crusts, which often makes the diagnosis not timely. In this context, the limited supply of treatments and the need to manage available supplies efficiently highlight the urgency of developing new, updated molecular tests."
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/cosa-dicono-gli-esperti-italiani-sul-vaiolo-delle-scimmie-italia-mpox/ on Mon, 19 Aug 2024 14:07:59 +0000.