[ad_1]
Sweden’s national epidemiologist does not rule out the possibility of more new MPox cases in Sweden. Sweden has initiated contact tracing and developed a prevention and control plan.
“There are currently no new confirmed cases in Sweden beyond the already reported patients infected with the mpox 1b virus,” Magnus Gisslén, professor of infectious diseases at the Swedish Public Health Agency and Sweden’s state epidemiologist, told Euractiv on Monday.
District infectious disease doctors have been conducting intensive contact tracing since the case was discovered last Thursday.
However, Magnus Gislen said the results of the study so far did not give us reason to suspect an outbreak in Sweden.
“In the meantime, it’s best to prepare for the worst,” he said.
Controlling possible outbreaks
State epidemiologists do not rule out the possibility of new imported cases from Sweden or other regions outside Africa, which could lead to an outbreak if not quickly contained early on.
“To succeed, rapid action, diagnosis, isolation and tracing are essential. However, the most important effort is to support African countries through vaccine distribution and help stop the spread of the epidemic.”
At the same time, the situation is critical as there are currently no mpox vaccines approved for use in children and adolescents.
The case in Sweden remains the only one reported outside Africa.
“But how likely is it that this is the only case? There may be other cases outside Africa, perhaps not in Sweden but somewhere else that has not yet been discovered,” Magnus Gislen said, urging health officials to remain vigilant.
The patient being treated in Stockholm had traveled to parts of Africa where severe outbreaks of influenza type 1b have occurred. The specific countries the patient had visited have not been publicly disclosed.
New strains
It is believed that the clad 1b mpox strain has September 2023 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo It then spread to Rwanda and Burundi. The virus is said to be more virulent and deadly than the MPox virus that caused an outbreak in Europe in 2022.
“At the same time, there is still a lack of data to fully confirm these characteristics,” Gislen said.
The incubation period is 6 to 21 days, but symptoms usually appear within a week or two. Common ones are Painful blisters or sores on the body, fever, headache and muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes and intestinal problems.
One challenge facing doctors is that the route of infection is not yet fully understood.
“These pathways have not yet been thoroughly analyzed. However, we do know that clad 1a strains can be transmitted through household contacts and that infection rates are high among children,” explains Magnus Gisslén.
“But the infection can also be spread through sexual contact, and there are some reports that mpox can be spread through bed sheets and towels,” he added.
It is also unclear whether strain 1b is airborne and can infect humans through tiny particles in the air at close range, called aerosols.
“We don’t know yet, but the virus has been found in the respiratory tract,” Magnus Gisslén told European Events.
This means that there is still no consensus around the world on how contagious the 1b branch is.
Planning ahead in Sweden
Swedish health officials are currently developing an action plan based on a range of possible scenarios.
Gislen told Euractiv that the Swedish Public Health Agency is analyzing existing research reports to gather more knowledge.
After the discovery of the 1b branch virus in Sweden, the world quickly raised its alert level. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in Stockholm raised the risk level of Mpox and said it expected more imported cases. Euractiv reports.
The Swedish Public Health Agency released Travel Tips For people traveling to areas with an influenza type 1b outbreak, these recommendations are intended to help travelers avoid infection and provide guidance if people develop symptoms.
Magnus Gisslén said more clarity would be forthcoming later this week and that he considered travel restrictions useless at the moment.
The Swedish government is said to be planning a meeting of the Strategic Crisis GroupLed by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
(Written by Monica Kleja; Edited by Vasiliki Angouridi, Brian Maguire | Euractiv Advocacy Lab)
Read more by Euractiv
[ad_2]
Source link
