A rash often begins on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body
(Picture: via REUTERS)Close contacts of monkeypox cases with a high risk of exposure should self-isolate for up to three weeks under the latest advice from the UK Health Security Agency, the government agency set up in April 2021.
Images of the effects of monkeypox don’t look pleasant, and critics of the initial response to Covid-19 will be hot on any lessons not learnt.
The latest line from a Government minister comes from Chief secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke, assuring that the outbreak of monkeypox “certainly does not appear to be anywhere near the same platform of seriousness” as Covid-19.
The effects of monkeypox are known, and for most people it is a mild disease that goes away without treatment within two to four weeks. A vaccine is also readily available, unlike the nine-month race to create and roll out a Covid vaccine.
It’s also well understood how monkeypox spreads, requiring very close physical or sexual contact. So you should be fine if it’s ‘just handshakes’ – which is as well, given the mixed messages on that topic at the start of the Covid pandemic.
Even in the unfortunate position of having to self-isolate, for many people that won’t be anything new, and the world is generally better prepared and more flexible to bend to those suddenly confined to their homes.
Although monkeypox is likely to remain in the news and people should take responsible measures if they’re at high risk, health officials do not sound overly concerned that there is a wider public danger.
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