In Marseille, a caregiver from Marseille Hospitals Public Assistance (APHM) was detected positive for monkeypox.
- The smallpox vaccine is 85% effective against monkeypox.
- As of June 3, 51 cases of monkeypox have been identified in France.
- The Monkeypox virus is transmitted by direct contact with skin lesions, droplets but also by contact with the patient’s environment.
Monkeypox is spreading in France. Monday June 6, a case was identified, and confirmed, among the hospital staff of one of the hospitals in Marseille, according to a APHM press release. “Currently isolated, he is doing well”, says the document. All persons who have been in contact with this person are identified and informed of the action to be taken. But according to the APHM, “the probability of contamination to other personnel is considered negligible”, and no patient is considered at risk of transmission of the virus. At the same time, consultations with occupational medicine are organized for people identified as contact cases, in order to “clarify the risk of exposure, provide information on the smallpox vaccine and specify the criteria put in place by Santé Publique France”.
Symptoms sometimes difficult to identify
The diagnosis of the disease is made complex by its symptoms, which are sometimes different from those identified previously. In an article from the National Public Radio, an American radio federation, Donald Vinh, a doctor specializing in infectious diseases, from McGill University explains that the rashes do not systematically resemble those listed in medical textbooks. The images in these books show people with the “trunk or hands covered in pus-filled blisters”. However, the cases identified recently sometimes present only one or two small lesions, “which can easily be confused with lesions caused by several sexually transmitted diseases, such as herpes and syphilis”. “I think that’s pretty critical, says Dr Vinh, because these patients can be ‘failed’. But they are still contagious and can spread disease.”
A difficult diagnosis
Medical books identify two phases to the disease: first flu-like symptoms, then, about a week later, rashes on the face and limbs. According to Donald Vinh, patients recently affected do not systematically follow this pattern: the lesions are sometimes limited to certain areas, in particular the genitals, and others never feel a fever. Some symptoms may suggest a case of monkeypox, but are really just a “ulcer or a small crater”. Public Health France reminds that the pathology can be confused with other rash diseases such as chickenpox, measles, bacterial skin infections, scabies, syphilis and drug allergies. Only the PCR test can confirm a suspicion of monkeypox.