Monkey pox increase continues: Europe is approaching 16,000 cases

Concern is growing in Europe as monkey smallpox data is updated. The continent continues to add cases of monkeypox and is about to reach 16,000. The concern is even greater in Spain, the European country with the highest number of infected, exceeding the figure of 4,500.

According to information provided on Wednesday by the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) and the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organisation (WHO), a total of 15,926 cases of monkey pox have been detected in Europe.

In addition, it has indicated that the hospitalization rate stands at 5.6 per cent, with 399 persons admitted to a health centre, of whom 150 have required clinical care.

Three people have had to enter the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), although one of them was for reasons unrelated to smallpox. The other two, however, died from the disease.

By country, Spain leads the European ranking of confirmed cases of monkey pox, with 4,577. The United Kingdom, which has notified up to 2,759, Germany, with a total of 2,724, France, which has already reported 2,054 cases, and the Netherlands, which reaches 927, completes the top 5.

By contrast, the countries with the fewest confirmed cases are, for the moment, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Russia, Turkey and Montenegro. These five territories have only one confirmed case of monkey pox.

The first warning about the virus in Europe dates back to 11 March, when the first people with symptoms appeared. Of the almost 16,000 cases that have been recorded, 99.1% are men, and the most affected age group is between 31 and 40 years, which is 41% of those infected.

The most common symptom is the characteristic rash that appears on the skin, present in 95.8% of cases. Other symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, muscle pain, chills, or headache, are experienced by 65% of people who have contracted the virus.