Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt Medical School, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Indiana University.
Monkeypox is a relatively uncommon disease. Risk factors include animal
bites and scratches from infected animals (mainly African rodents or monkeys) or
from other rodents (like prairie dogs) that have had contact with African animals infected with the virus. Avoid eating any meat from such animals
is advised. Recent studies have shown that several species of mammals can be
infected with monkeypox, even though the species had never been associated with
the virus in their normal environment. Person-to-person transfer, although
infrequent, can be reduced or prevented by avoiding direct physical contact with
the patient and having the patient's caregivers wear gloves and face masks.
What are monkeypox symptoms and signs?
The first symptoms that occur are nonspecific -- fever, sweating, malaise, and
some patients may develop a cough, nausea, and shortness of breath. About two to
four
days after fever develops, a rash with papules and pustules develops most often
on the face and chest, but other body areas may eventually be affected, including
mucus membranes inside the nose and mouth. These skin and mucus membrane pox
lesions can ulcerate, crust over, and then begin to heal in about 14-21 days.
In addition, lymph nodes usually swell during this time. Some pox lesions may
become necrotic and destroy sebaceous glands, leaving a depression or pox scar
that, with monkeypox, may gradually become less pronounced over a few years. The
toxemia that was seen with smallpox is not seen with monkeypox.
Figure 2: Picture of the pustules/papules of
characteristic monkeypox rash; SOURCE: World Health Organization (WHO)/Brian W.J. Mahy, BSc, MA, PhD, ScD, DSc
The word "rash" means an outbreak of red bumps on the body. The way people use this term, "a rash" can refer to many different skin conditions. The most common of these are scaly patches of skin and red, itchy bumps or patches all over the place.
Lymph nodes help the body's immune system fight infections. Causes of swollen lymph nodes (glands) may include infection (viral, bacterial, fungal, parasites). Symptoms of swollen lymph nodes vary greatly. They can sometimes be tender, painful or disfiguring. The treatment of swollen lymph nodes depends upon the cause.
Chronic cough is a cough that does not go away and is generally a symptom of another disorder such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, sinus infection, cigarette smoking, GERD, postnasal drip, bronchitis, pneumonia, medications, and less frequently tumors or other lung disease. Treatment of chronic cough is dependant upon the cause.
Nausea is an uneasiness of the stomach that often precedes vomiting. Nausea and vomiting are not diseases, but they are symptoms of many conditions. The causes of vomiting differ according to age, and treatment depends upon the cause of nausea and vomiting.
Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degrees F. (37 degrees C.), in practice a person is usually not considered to have a significant fever until the temperature is above 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C.). Fever is part of the body's own disease-fighting arsenal: rising body temperatures apparently are capable of killing off many disease- producing organisms.
Travelers should prepare for their trip by visiting their physician to get the proper vaccinations and obtain the necessary medication if they have a medical condition or chronic disease. Diseases that travelers may pick up from contaminated water or food, insect or animal bites, or from other people include malaria, meningococcal meningitis, yellow fever, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, polio, and cholera.
Smallpox is a disease caused by the variola virus. Symptoms and signs include a characteristic rash and high fever. Treatment focuses on supporting the patient. Smallpox may be prevented with the ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine.
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