Health & Fitness

Monkeypox, a disease that rarely shows up outside a belt of countries across Central and West Africa, has exploded into the news recently, with cases reported in the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, the United States, Sweden, Italy, and likely Canada. At this point, the cases are mainly being detected by clinics that treat sexually transmitted diseases and are being seen in men who have sex with men. But the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have cautioned that to assume the virus is only circulating in a single subset of the population risks missing cases that may be occurring among other people. Monkeypox causes a flu-like array of symptoms, but also comes with a distinctive rash; one telltale sign is the fact that lesions often appear on the p...

Enlarge / A 2003 photo of the arms and legs of a 4-year-old girl infected with monkeypox in Liberia. A growing outbreak of monkeypox cases has spread across several countries, including the US, suggesting that the animal-transmitted disease that occurs in forested areas of Central and West Africa has been quietly spreading undetected. So far, the US has reported one case in a Massachusetts man who had recently traveled to Canada, which, as of Thursday, reported 17 suspected cases in Montreal. The United Kingdom has identified nine cases, one of which is connected to recent travel to Nigeria, where monkeypox is endemic. But the other cases appear to have been infected within the UK and are all not linked to the travel-related case by contact or ...

LONDON (AP) — European and American health authorities have identified a number of monkeypox cases in recent days, mostly in young men. It’s a surprising outbreak of disease that rarely appears outside Africa. Health officials around the world are keeping watch for more cases because, for the first time, the disease appears to be spreading among people who didn’t travel to Africa. They stress, however, that the risk to the general population is low. WHAT IS MONKEYPOX? Monkeypox is a virus that originates in wild animals like rodents and primates, and occasionally jumps to people. Most human cases have been in central and west Africa, where the disease is endemic. The illness was first identified by scientists in 1958 when there were two outbreaks of a “pox-like” disease in research monke...

State health officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger said COVID case numbers and hospitalizations have doubled in recent weeks. PORTLAND, Ore. — Health officials in Oregon shared some sobering news during a virtual press conference Wednesday, the week after Multnomah County began advising indoor masking again due to rising COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations. "There's more COVID in the community, and the chances of you being exposed are even higher," Dr. Dean Sidelinger said. Dr. Sidelinger, epidemiologist and health officer for the Oregon Health Authority, said that the COVID-19 pandemic is nowhere near over. ...

A handful of cases of monkeypox have now been reported or are suspected in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, the United States and Canada. Here’s what we know so far about monkeypox: What is monkeypox? Monkeypox is a usually mild virus that causes a fever as well as a distinctive bumpy rash. There are two main strains: the Congo strain, which is more severe – with up to 10 percent mortality – and the West African strain, which has a fatality rate of 1 percent of cases. The UK infections have been reported as the West African strain. “Historically, there have been very few cases exported. It has only happened eight times in the past before this year,” said Dr Jimmy Whitworth, a professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He add...

<!-- --> Several countries have begun testing temperatures of arriving passengers to detect monkeypox New Delhi: Europe and North America have detected dozens of cases of monkeypox, a virus that passes from infected animals such as rodents to humans. The World Health Organization said it was coordinating with health officials over the new outbreaks. Here are 10 things we know about the Monkeypox outbreak: Monkeypox is a rare viral infection which is similar to human smallpox. It was first discovered in 1958 in monkeys kept for research. The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970. Monkeypox can be caught from a bite by an infected animal, or by touching its blood, body fluids, or fur. It's thought to be spread by rodents, such as ...

Spain and Portugal have detected over 40 suspected cases of monkeypox, a viral infection rarely seen in Europe, with both outbreaks concentrated in the Madrid and Lisbon areas, officials said Wednesday.   The announcement came just days after the British health authorities said they had detected seven cases so far this month, with the World Health Organization working with the government to investigate the outbreak. Health officials have noted some of these infections may be through sexual contact – in this instance among gay or bisexual men – which would be a new development in understanding how the virus is transmitted. In a statement, health authorities in the Madrid region said they had detected "23 possible cases of monkeypox", indicating all of them were believed to have been t...

Summary: Women who hug their partners before a stressful event have a lower biological stress response and reduced cortisol levels compared to women who do not embrace their partners. Source: PLOS Women instructed to embrace their romantic partner prior to undergoing a stressful experience had a lower biological stress response—as indicated by levels of the stress hormone cortisol in saliva—compared to women who did not embrace their partner. This effect was not seen for men. Gesa Berretz of Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. In some settings, social touch may buffer against stress. Previous research has shown that massages, embraces combined with hand-holding, and embraces combined with affectionate communication ...

An electron microscopic (EM) image shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virus particles as well as crescents and spherical particles of immature virions, obtained from a clinical human skin sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak in this undated image obtained by Reuters on May 18, 2022. Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regnery/CDC/Handout via REUTERS Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register May 18 (Reuters) - The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Wednesday said it had confirmed a single case of monkeypox virus infection in a man who had recently traveled to Canada. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)said its labs confirmed the infection to be monkeypox on Wednesday afternoon. The state agency said it was working with CD...

<!-- --> The World Health Organization said Tuesday it was coordinating with UK to investigate the outbreak. Madrid: Spain and Portugal have detected over 40 suspected cases of monkeypox, a viral infection rarely seen in Europe, with both outbreaks concentrated in the Madrid and Lisbon areas, officials said Wednesday. The announcement came just days after the British health authorities said they had detected seven cases so far this month, with the World Health Organization working with the government to investigate the outbreak. Health officials have noted some of these infections may be through sexual contact -- in this instance among gay or bisexual men -- which would be a new development in understanding how the virus is transmitted. In a statement, health authorities in the ...