The WHO puts more than 3,200 cases of monkeypox

The World Health Organization (WHO) has already registered 3,200 cases of monkeypox, an “unusually high” number for a disease that is not spread as easily as respiratory viruses. Most cases have occurred in men who have sex with men and, more specifically, who have had sex with new or multiple partners, stresses the WHO, which has confirmed the first death from the disease in the West, although without specifying where or how it happened. In addition, the agency warns that the transmission “is being underestimated”, that is, that there are probably more infected than those registered by official statistics.

“Many countries are likely to have missed opportunities to identify cases, including those that have not taken any recent travel,” warned WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. However, the organization does not believe that massive events should be suspended, such as the LGTBI Pride events that are being held in many world capitals or parties in hotels and on summer beaches, and even considers that doing so could be “counterproductive”.

“Mass gatherings do not amplify transmission by themselves, what matters is behavior during events,” the experts point out, a recommendation similar to those already issued by the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Center for Disease Control. and Disease Prevention (ECDC).

The director of the World Health Organization pointed out that monkeypox has become a global health alarm after it jumped to Western countries, but recalled that in Central Africa there are already more than 1,500 suspected cases and possibly about 70 deaths. in the most affected countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic or Cameroon. “Few of these cases are confirmed and little is known about their circumstances,” revealed Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

In Spain, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, published this Friday, 736 positives of the disease have been reported in fifteen communities (436 in Madrid, 119 in Catalonia, 78 in Andalusia, 37 in the Canary Islands, 15 in the Basque Country, twelve in the Valencian Community, ten in the Balearic Islands, nine in Aragon, six in Galicia, six in Asturias, three in Castilla-La Mancha, two in Extremadura and one in Murcia, Navarra and Cantabria).