Monkeypox: “It is not like Covid-19”, said Prof. Magiorkinis

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and member of the Committee of Experts, Gikas Magiorkinis, estimated that the monkeypox cases “will increase in the coming days, but not at a worrying level”, clarifying that the virus “is not like Covid-19 and I do not think there will be a pandemic “.

“The epidemic curve seems to be on the rise. From what we know about monkeypox, however, we believe that it will not develop rapidly. It is a phenomenon that we are closely monitoring” he added, speaking to the Fm Agency and the show of Tania H. Mantouvalos “104.9 HEALTH SECRETS”.  “I believe that, in the next 15 days, the intensity of the phenomenon will decrease,” he added.

Why is there an outbreak of cases?

Asked how he explains the fact that there are scattered incidents without any contact or travel, Mr  Magiorkinis answered that these are definitely transmissions within specific countries, such as in the United Kingdom where the cases have tripled in recent days. “There is no doubt that these are transmissions that take place within the borders. And from the history, (because it is a tracking process) it appears that there is a high probability that it has been transmitted through very close contact “. As to why a virus known from the distant past has now appeared, the epidemiologist says there is no answer. He speculates, however, that due to the restrictions imposed to citizens due to the pandemic, they have now – once the restrictions were lifted – increased their social contacts and this may have contributed to this outbreak.

Monkeypox may have appeared 2 years ago

Recently, it is widely discussed that this particular virus may have appeared 2 years ago, Professor Magiorkinis comments: “This is a theory formulated by Belgian colleagues, who read the genome of the virus from different patients, and based on the molecular footprint of these viruses, they estimate that it could circulate for a longer period of time than what we believe. ” And the question that reasonably arises is how it is possible such a theory to be valid, without a rise in cases. “One of the symptoms of monkeypox is the rash. Theoretically, because the health system has been depressed for the past two years [due to Covid-19], there may have been cases with such rashes and they may have been attributed to other infectious diseases. This is the theory that has been recently discussed and I think it is should be considered. “