It doesn’t look like a pandemic: an epidemiologist on the difference between monkeypox and COVID-19

Natalya Koryagina, chief freelance therapist of the Ministry of HEALTH of the Perm Territory and DOCTOR of Medical Sciences, told RBC Perm about the main differences between the monkeypox virus and the CORONAVIRUS. The two viruses differ in how they are transmitted, she said. Because of this, monkeypox cannot spread as quickly as covid. However, according to world scientists, mutations are possible in the virus.

“The main difference is that the monkey virus belongs to the group of smallpox viruses. We all know smallpox, black pox, which killed a huge number of people on Earth. The monkeypox virus belongs to the orthopoxvirus genus and, unlike covid, it is transmitted by contact. The method of transmission of a new coronavirus infection is airborne. The scenario is not like a pandemic. But the scientists of the world say that mutations and a change in transmission methods are possible. To date, there is only 1 case of monkeypox in RUSSIA. It is imported with a slight flow. There are no cases in the Perm Territory,” says Natalya Koryagina.

Earlier, RBC Perm reported that medical workers in the Perm Territory were trained in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of monkeypox.

In addition, according to the Ministry of Health, special tactical exercises were held for medical workers on the basis of the Perm Regional Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital. Earlier, relevant methodological recommendations were received from the Ministry of Health of Russia on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of monkeypox, they were brought to all medical institutions in the region.

Additionally, this week the chief infectious disease specialist of the Ministry of Health of the Perm Territory and representatives of the Office of Rospotrebnadzor for the Perm Territory held a meeting with representatives of medical organizations of the Kama region on the organization of anti-epidemic measures, as well as the collection, transportation and diagnosis of biomaterials in patients with suspected monkeypox.

They also added that the region is provided with drugs for treatment, PPE and ambulance teams are ready to provide assistance.

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