Will monkeypox cause a UK lockdown? If Virus Covid could follow

Monkeypox cases in the UK continue to rise, with close contacts being advised to isolate for a period of three weeks.

But could the recent monkeypox outbreak take a similar trajectory to the Covid pandemic – and could it lead to a lockdown?

Here’s what you need to know.

Hussain Abdeh, clinical director and chief pharmacist at Medicine Direct, said monkeypox is “definitely not another Covid, so people don’t have to worry about us being locked in our homes”.

He added: “Monkeypox is better understood than Covid was at the beginning of the pandemic.”

The latest outbreak of monkeypox was first detected in the UK on May 7, with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) recommending on May 23 that people who had “unprotected direct contact or exposure to the environment pose a high risk”. , self-isolate should be three weeks.

However, unlike the Covid lockdown and self-isolation requirement, the monkeypox isolation guidance is advisory and not mandatory.

Mr Abdeh said while the number of cases was still quite low for the UK, the daily cases were “an unusual and unprecedented high for this country”.

“When a virus like this breaks out, it’s always a cause for concern, although not for panic,” he said.

Monkeypox typically occurs in parts of west or central Africa and cases are usually rare in the UK.

“Monkeypox is outside its usual home in the UK, which means it requires prolonged close contact between people to continue to thrive. As a result, outbreaks of monkeypox are usually short-lived,” added Mr Abdeh.

Martin Michaelis, Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Kent, echoed this when he said that barring “no unforeseen events” then “it seems unlikely that monkeypox will cause an outbreak on the scale of Covid-19”.

The professor explained that monkeypox does not spread as easily as Covid because you can easily contract it from a person with Covid if you are in the same room for a short period of time without direct contact with them.

However, people tend to be in much closer contact monkeypox are transmittedwhereby the virus spreads by touching someone with the infection, using the same bedding, or sneezing or coughing at them directly, Prof Michaelis noted.

The symptoms of monkeypox are also “much more obvious and definite and cannot easily be confused with a common cold like Covid-19,” Prof Michaelis said.

He added: “Monkeypox is also usually only contagious in patients who show symptoms.

“Therefore, there isn’t this level of asymptomatic spread from people who don’t know they are contagious that we’re used to with Covid-19.”

A rash usually sets in one to five days after the first symptoms appear. The spots often start on the face before spreading to other parts of the body.

Then, as the disease progresses, the rash changes from raised red bumps to fluid-filled patches, with the patches eventually forming crusts that later fall off.