The monkey pox is a rare disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the same family as the smallpox virus.
The bone symptom Monkeypox is similar to smallpox, but milder. These typically include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, respiratory symptoms, and a rash of pimples or blisters that appear on the face, inside the mouth, and in other parts of the body, such as the hands, feet, chest, genitals, or anus.
Since the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) They explain that the rash goes through different phases before it heals completely.
The disease, which usually lasts 2 to 4 weeks, usually begins with the eruption then manifests the other symptoms, although there are people who only have the rash.
It has recently become known that monkeypox has killed four people outside Africa, including two in Spain. Therefore, in order to help doctors identify the disease, a study has identified important differences in monkeypox symptoms between current and previous outbreaks in endemic regions, as published in The BMJthe medical journal of the British Medical Association.
Lesions on the penis could be a symptom of the infection
Specifically, these conclusions were drawn from the analysis of 197 cases of monkeypox that were confirmed at an infectious disease center in London between May and July 2022.
Among the common and different symptoms of other previous outbreaks described in the study, the following stand out:l rectal pain and swelling of the penis (edema).
With these data, the researchers believe clinicians should consider the possibility of monkeypox infection in patients with these symptoms.
In addition, they also point out that patients with confirmed monkeypox infection with extensive penile lesions or severe rectal pain “should be considered for ongoing review or be treated in hospital.
No patient died or required intensive care.
As experts point out, 197 men with an average age of 38 were selected to carry out the study. Of these, 196 identified as gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men.
According to the experts, all patients presented lesions on the skin or mucous membranesmost often on the genitals or in the perianal region.
Research assures that 86% of patients reported a systemic disease that affected the whole body. Among the most common systemic symptoms was detected fever (62%), inflammation lymph nodes (58%) and muscle aches (32%).
Of these, 38% of patients developed systemic symptoms after the appearance of mucocutaneous lesions, while 14% presented lesions without systemic features.
Additionally, a total of 71 patients reported rectal pain33 pain throat at 31 penis swellingwhile 27 had oral lesions, 22 had a solitary lesion and 9 had swollen tonsils.
In addition, 36% of participants also had a HIV infection and 32% of people tested for sexually transmitted infections had a sexually transmitted infection.
As the experts report, 20 of the participants were admitted to hospital for treatment of the symptoms, which were mainly rectal pain and penile swelling. Despite this, no deaths were recorded and no patient required intensive hospital care.
The researchers believe this data can advance contact tracing, public health advice and ongoing isolation and infection control measures.
This information does not in any way replace the diagnosis or the prescription of a doctor. It is important to go to a specialist when symptoms appear in case of illness and never to self-medicate.
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