The advance of Monkeypox or Monkeypox has been slowly escalating to the point of becoming worrying. In Chile there are already over 70 confirmed cases and some have appeared in regions where the virus did not exist, as is the case of O’Higgins.
This speed of spread led the World Health Organization (WHO) to make two calls: for gay people, the group most affected by the virus, to reduce the number of sexual partners; but also to avoid the stigma towards this community, which would lead to hiding the contagion and allowing the disease to spread even more.
From this arises a fundamental theme that has accompanied this outbreak since its inception: the stigma attached to a specific social group.
“It reminds a bit of history at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Initially, a stigma and prejudice was built regarding who were the people who suffered from HIV. At that time they were people who had a different sexual orientation,” recalls Rubén Alvarado, an academic at the O’Higgins State University (UOH).
The surgeon and Doctor in Psychiatry and Community Care added that it is time to “learn from that lesson and, since this disease has a similar form of contagion, let us avoid thinking that people who suffer from monkeypox may be people of a different orientation. sex in particular. Anyone could become infected, just by having contact with someone infected.
For Camila Oda, PhD in Clinical and Health Psychology and UOH academic, the implications of associating preventive campaigns only with certain groups of the population are multiple and diverse. “On the one hand, this type of action contributes significantly to the stigmatization of certain groups, in this case the group of men who have sex with men, which, in addition to having various harmful effects on health, both physiological and in terms of of mental health, has the paradoxical effect of significantly increasing the probability that, in case of suspecting a health problem, affected people actively avoid and delay attending a health service for its investigation, for fear of receiving ill-treatment , or to be classified as a promiscuous or careless person, for example”, clarifies the expert.
The psychologist also explains that, by focusing on groups considered to be at risk, “it increases the probability that other people will be underdiagnosed or think that because they do not belong to these groups they are free from developing the disease, as has already happened with conditions such as HIV in the past”.
“One of the strategies that could be used is to focus prevention on risk behaviors and not on certain sectors of the population, because in relation to sexual-affective practices, these can be carried out regardless of sexual orientation, as well as the prophylactic measures that we take”, concludes the UOH academic.
contagion and symptoms
According to the epidemiologist and academic of the UOH Institute of Health Sciences, María Teresa Solís, the incubation period of the disease, that is, the time between infection and the appearance of symptoms, is usually 6 to 13 days, although it can vary between 5 and 21 days.
“People with the disease are contagious as long as they have symptoms, usually within the first two to four weeks. Rashes, body fluids (such as fluids, pus, or blood from skin lesions), and scabs are particularly infectious. That is why emphasis is placed on avoiding close contact with infected people, hand washing and use of personal protective equipment if necessary”, explains Dr. Solís.
The Doctor in International Health also clarifies that monkeypox is a disease caused by a virus from the same family as smallpox. “In that sense, the symptoms are usually similar, although milder. In the first period of the infection (from 0 to 5 days), fever, intense headache, swollen lymph nodes, lower back pain, muscle aches and lack of energy may occur”, explains the expert.
“Subsequently, skin rashes may appear, between 1 to 3 days after the fever and tend to concentrate on the face and extremities (hands and feet). The oral mucous membranes, the genitals and the conjunctivae can also be affected”, points out Dr. Solís.