Monkeypox-An Overview of Transmission, Clinical Manifestations and Treatment Approaches

Abstract

Monkeypox (MPX) is a zoonotic viral disease with symptoms like smallpox but less clinical severity. It is an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus that belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. Monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks. However, the extent to which asymptomatic infection occurs is unknown. Since humans are not the causative organism of the monkeypox virus, rodents and primates are the most likely sources of the virus' transmission to humans. Crowded living quarters, poor hygiene, discontinuation of the smallpox vaccination, and decreasedherd immunity are implicated in the human-to-human transmission of a disease that earlier was thought to be transmitted via animal contacts. Further, there are high similarities between this disease and smallpox in their pathogenesis except for the mode of viral entries. Due to inconsistencies in the epidemiological investigations, precise and adequate information regarding the virulence and transmissibility of the human monkeypox illness is scarce. Although smallpox vaccinations are believed to be efficacious against monkeypox, there are no known therapies for monkeypox infection that have been experimentally shown. However, the access to the vaccination must be carried out in a collaborative approach between the researchers and health authorities to ascertain the need to enable scale-up for their capacity to curb this infectious illness.©2022Caproslaxy Media. All rights reserved.