Global mpox emergency: debunking fact versus fiction

Children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV, are all at higher risk of complications.

Shingles are caused by the varicella-zoster virus – the same virus that causes chickenpox. Patients usually have smaller, painful lesions and rashes.

Mpox was first detected in the 1970s in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The disease is caused by a virus transmitted by infected animals but is passed between humans through close physical contact.

It belongs to the family of poxviruses – whereas shingles is a kind of herpes.

Two years ago, the WHO declared mpox was an emergency when a form of the disease, clade IIb, began to spread globally, largely among men who have sex with men.

That outbreak was brought under control after behaviour change and safe sex practices. Vaccines also helped people at risk protect themselves in many countries. But mpox has been a public health problem in parts of Africa for decades. The current outbreak, Congo’s worst ever, has seen 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths since January 2023, mainly among children.

Two strains of mpox are now spreading in Congo. One is the endemic form of the virus, clade I and a new offshoot is called clade Ib, with the term “clade” referring to a form of the virus.

A popular conspiracy theory sparked by a 2022 video by controversial French researcher Didier Raoult has also re-emerged on social media. According to Raoult, a very effective drug used to treat mpox exists but is not made available.

The “most effective molecule” against mpox is “a Japanese drug called Tranilast”, he said in the video.

“It will never be marketed here [Europe] because it is extremely cheap.”

Hong Kong residents at risk of mpox outbreak due to low immunity, experts warn

But Tranilast, which was approved in 1982 in Japan and China to treat asthma, has never been clinically tested on humans for treating mpox.

However, vaccination combined with educating at-risk individuals and isolating contact cases helped the world contain the 2022 mpox outbreak.

Raoult is the former head of France’s IHU Mediterranee research hospital. He has been accused by French medical bodies of conducting “the largest ‘unauthorised’ clinical trial ever seen” into the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19.

“The WHO cannot and has not ordered governments to prepare for ‘mega lockdowns’ or any kind of lockdown due to mpox,” the organisation said, debunking disinformation that has spread online.

Agence France-Presse and Reuters

Mpox is transmitted through close physical contact, including sexual contact, but there is no evidence that it spreads easily through the air.

Fatality rates for mpox vary, with the availability of healthcare playing a crucial role in the outcome for the sickest patients.

It’s important to remember that mpox is not Covid-19. The good news is that some smallpox vaccines have been shown to prevent mpox, offering a ray of hope in the fight against this disease.

Here are some things you can do to prevent becoming infected with the disease:

1. Avoid close contact with people who have a rash that looks like mpox.

2. Avoid handling clothes, sheets, blankets or other materials that have been in contact with an infected animal or person.

3. Wash your hands well with soap and water after any contact with an infected person or animal.

4. Avoid rodents, hedgehogs, prairie dogs and squirrels that may carry the virus.