The New York City It is undoubtedly one of the most important socio-economic epicentres in the world. Today, this city is on high alert after declaring, on Saturday July 30, the public health emergency in response to the monkeypox outbreak. This happens at a time when The United States becomes the first country in the world to exceed 5,000 cases. 30 days ago, there were less than 400 cases.
The authorities’ concern raises a question about major cities and the future that monkeypox is showing around the world. As stated in New York, the emergency declaration will unlock additional tools to help slow the spread in the city, which has become the epicenter of another health crisis.
“Today we are declaring monkeypox a public health emergency in New York City. This declaration, effective immediately, will allow the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to issue Emergency Commissioner’s Orders under the New York City Health Code. York and to amend the provisions of the New York City Health Code. measures that help stop the spread,” they said. Mayor Eric Adams and Commissioner Dr Ashwin Vasan officially released the statement on Saturday.
And they added: “New York City is currently the epicenter of the outbreak, and we estimate that approximately 150,000 New Yorkers are at risk of exposure to monkeypox.. We will continue to work with our federal partners to secure more vaccine doses as they become available. This outbreak needs to be addressed urgently, with action and resources, both nationally and globally, and this declaration of a public health emergency reflects the gravity of the moment,” he said.
It was a day after Governor Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency to get additional federal aid to the state.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has also officially declared a state of emergency due to rising monkeypox infections in his city.a movement similar to that which took place in this same city in the 1980s, in the midst of the crisis due to HIV infections.
In town so far detected 261 people with monkeypox, or 30% of cases in the entire state of California. People were seen queuing for hours to get a dose of the vaccine, which is in short supply across the country.
The municipality had to close its vaccination centers at the beginning of the week because they had run out of doses, explaining that they had only received 7,800 doses, out of the 35,000 they had requested from the federal government. Authorities said they were promised some 4,200 more doses for next week.
The declaration of emergency in New York comes as the state has 1,400 cases, according to the New York State Department of Health. The vast majority of them are in town, with at least 1,289 caseswhich represents an increase of a few dozen cases after the toll published in the previous days increased by nearly 200 affected, compared to the previous two.
This total, which is believed to be underreported, still represents a quarter of the growing number of cases nationwide.
Worldwide cases started May 6 when the first patient appeared. According to @Monkeypoxtally, on May 21, there were 100 cases; June 6, 1,000; June 14, 2000; June 21 3,000; June 23 4,000; June 28 5,000; July 12 10,000, July 20 15,000 and on July 27, 20,000 cases.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, gave a press conference on Saturday July 23 to announce the activation of the maximum alert level to deal with the monkeypox epidemic. And there is no longer any doubt: the epidemic meets the criterion for such a statement.
The WHO defines a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC, as “an extraordinary event” that poses a “risk to the public health of other states through the international spread of a disease”. and “could potentially require a coordinated international response.” This definition implies a situation that is: serious, sudden, unusual or unexpected. That it has public health implications beyond the national border of the affected state and may require immediate international action.
A few days earlier, a new alarm had gone off. The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that Two cases of monkeypox in children have been detected for the first time. It’s a statement, the CDC said one of the infected minors is a California resident under the age of two, while the other was in the United States, but does not usually reside in the country. Health officials have indicated that the two cases are linked and that the children were most likely infected at home transmitted by a family member.
A second person with monkeypox has died in Spainreported the Ministry of Health on Saturday 30, the day after the announcement of the first death in this country of a person infected with the virus.
“Of the 3,750 patients (…) 120 cases were hospitalized and two died”indicated the Ministry’s Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies in its latest report published on Saturday, without specifying the date of this second death. These are the first deaths outside Africa of people infected with monkeypox, as well as a third recorded in Brazil.
As is the case around the world, right now the population with the highest number of infections in San Francisco are men who have sex with men. At the city council last week, Dozens of members of the LGBTQ+ community have complained about the lack of official help and information from the San Francisco Department of Health. In response, they made this declaration, which allows the city to release funds to fight against the disease.
“San Francisco has demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic that early action is essential to protect public health,” Mayor Breed said at a press conference.
Monkeypox received this name in 1958 when it was detected in several laboratory monkeys in Denmark. In 1970, the virus was detected in humans. It is considered a zoonotic viral disease, which means that it can be transmitted from animals to humans. It can also be transmitted from person to person. The disease is known to be spread by direct contact with the lesions of an infected patient or by surfaces contaminated by them, but little is known about the possible presence of virus in other biological samples, such as saliva. , urine or semen.
In Spain, a study was carried out and published in the journal Eurosurveillanceand contributes to a better understanding of the modes of transmission of this emerging disease. Viral DNA can frequently be detected in different clinical specimens from patients infected with monkeypox, including saliva and semen, according to work carried out by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center promoted by the “la Caixa” Foundation.
Most of those affected so far are men. However, the disease has spread to many other countries and there are fears that it could spread to vulnerable population groups, such as immunocompromised patients or children. consulted by Infobae, Dr. Gustavo Lopardo, Vice President of the Pan American Association for Infectious Diseases and Educational Coordinator of FUNCEI in Buenos Aires, explained: “Spekepox is a disease that is transmitted by very close contact and currently behaves like a sexually transmitted infection. Most people who have been diagnosed are men who have sex with other men.
Although he clarified: “The virus can be detected in semen, but It is very likely that transmission occurs through skin contact with lesions of the infected person.. We observe that most lesions occur in the genital area of those affected. This is a big difference from the cases that have been reported in Africa. Another difference is that most patients have mild symptoms.”
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