Britain’s smallpox epidemic nearly tripled today after health officials confirmed that another 36 patients had contracted the tropical virus.
The heads of the UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have registered 57 cases in just over two weeks, in a situation described as “unprecedented” by leading experts. He has disproportionately hit gay and bisexual men.
Health officials described the epidemic as “significant and worrying”, but added that the risk to the UK population remained low.
UKHSA Chief Medical Adviser Dr Susan Hopkins thanked the people for coming for testing, saying they were helping to curb the spread of the virus.
“Thanks to everyone who has already responded to the test and supported our follow-up efforts – you are helping us limit the spread of this infection in the UK,” she said.
Anyone with unusual rashes or lesions, or other symptoms of monkeypox, is advised to contact a sexual health service, and gays and bisexual men in particular are encouraged to be on the lookout for signs.
Boris Johnson said today that it is important to keep an eye on the hearth. The Prime Minister has already ruled out the possibility of introducing any travel measures similar to Covid, or holding an emergency meeting of COBRA to discuss next steps.
This comes after MailOnline revealed today that NHS hospitals only have room to treat dozens of monkeypox patients, and experts say hospitals could soon be left without beds if the epidemic continues to worsen.
Current UKHSA guidelines say that all confirmed cases that require hospital care should be transferred to high-impact infectious disease units (HCIDs). Only 15 such beds existed in the UK before Covid struck. Capacity was increased during the pandemic, but health sources say it is still only in the region of 50.
NHS chiefs insist the country is equipped to deal with the outbreak through its “tested plans”. Insiders at the hospital also say the current capacity of HCID is less than 50 percent, and instead many patients will be quarantined at home.
Experts told the website today that “there is always a risk of losing our beds” and that this could happen if “the situation continues to get worse”.
However, scientists also insist that Covid proves that the NHS can set up special isolation units in the unlikely event that specialized units have been overloaded. But smallpox is usually a mild self-limiting disease, so not everyone needs medical attention.
Boris Johnson said today that it was important to “keep an eye on him” as the government sought to allay fears of the epidemic. Visiting a school in South East London, the Prime Minister said: “So far the consequences do not seem very serious, but it is important to keep an eye on it and that is what the new UKHSA is doing.”
A history of monkeypox in the United Kingdom
1958: Monkeypox is first discovered when an epidemic of measles-like disease occurs in monkeys kept for testing.
1970: The first human case was reported in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the infection has since been reported in a number of Central and West African countries.
2003: Outbreak of monkeypox in the United States after rodents were imported from Africa. Cases have been reported in both humans and domestic prairie dogs. All human infections followed contact with an infected pet and all patients recovered.
SEPTEMBER 8, 2018: Monkeypox first appeared in the United Kingdom with a Nigerian naval officer who visited Cornwall for training. They were treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2018: A second case of monkeypox in the United Kingdom has been confirmed in Blackpool. It has nothing to do with the first case in Cornwall. Instead, the patient became infected while traveling to Nigeria. They were treated at Victoria Hospital in Blackpool and the Royal University Hospital in Liverpool.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2018: A third person was diagnosed with monkeypox. The person worked at Victoria Hospital in Blackpool and was treating the second case of monkeypox. They received treatment at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
DECEMBER 3, 2019: A patient was diagnosed with monkeypox in England, the fourth case in history.
May 25, 2021: Two cases of monkeypox have been identified in North Wales. Both patients traveled to Nigeria.
A third person living with one of the cases was diagnosed and admitted to hospital, which reduces the total to seven.
MAY 7, 2022: A man was diagnosed with monkeypox in England after recently traveling to Nigeria. The person received care in the Infectious Diseases Expert Unit at the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London.
MAY 14, 2022: Two more cases were confirmed in London. The infected couple lived in the same household, but were not in contact with the case announced a week earlier.
One of these people was taken care of by the Infectious Diseases Expert Unit at St Mary’s Hospital in London. The other is isolated at home and does not need hospital treatment.
MAY 16, 2022: Four more cases have been announced, bringing the total number in the UK to seven. Three of these cases are in London, while one of their contacts is infected in the north-east of England.
A number of cases have been described as “unusual” and “surprising”, as experts warn gay and bisexual men to worry about new rashes.
MAY 19, 2022: Two more cases were discovered, without travel links or links to other cases. The cases are based in the Southeast and London. Fears that the infections remained undetected began to grow.
MAY 20, 2022: Eleven more cases are announced, meaning that the monkeypox epidemic in Britain has doubled to 20. Ministers discuss the possibility of a public health campaign to warn gays that the disease may be more prevalent for them.
UKHSA confirmed that the number of monkeypox in England today jumped to 36, while the first case was registered in Scotland.
Infections are registered from May 7.
Health officials have asked anyone with unusual rashes or lesions on any part of their body, especially the genitals, to contact NHS 111 or the local sexual health service immediately.
The British must call clinics before visiting. Their appointment will be treated delicately and confidentially.
A “remarkable share” of the cases found were gay and bisexual men, so the UKHSA called on the community to be vigilant about the symptoms of monkeypox.
People who are at high risk with confirmed cases will be asked to isolate themselves at home for up to three weeks.
They will also be offered a smallpox vaccine to reduce the risk of symptoms and severe illness.
Sixteen countries – including the United States, Canada, Australia and Spain – discovered the virus this month, which is usually found only in Africa. Denmark was the last to confirm an infection in a man who recently returned from Spain.
Despite growing fears about the global epidemic, top experts are adamant that monkeypox will not go out of control like Covid, who forced nations to adopt economically crippling restrictions.
Only five NHS hospitals in England are currently prepared to treat patients with airborne HCID, which is technically referred to as monkeypox.
These include: Royal Free Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London, Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield and Royal Liverpool Hospital.
Dr Nick Price, director of the UK’s on-board HCID network, said there were only 15 HCID beds nationwide before the pandemic.
Capacity was “squeezed” to 40 during the Covid crisis, he wrote in a blog post outlining the NHS’s early struggles with Covid.
Dr. Price was the consultant in charge of Boris Johnson’s treatment when the prime minister caught Covid and had to be admitted to intensive care.
He said it was a “relief” when the HCID network was “congested” when he had to deal with less than 10 cases a week. He frankly added: “It was no longer useful to try to limit it by moving patients to specialized wards because we had no beds left.”
It is unclear whether the NHS has retained the extra HCID beds made during the pandemic, as by early March, patients with the virus had been relocated to Covid’s isolated hospital wards rather than specialized wards.
High-level isolation units where HCIDs are treated are equipped to deal with the world’s deadliest pathogens, including Ebola, bird flu and plague.
Access is restricted to specially trained medics, who must wear protective aprons, masks, visors and gloves before entering.
In some cases, specially designed ventilation tents are set up around patients so that staff can treat and feed the sick without physically touching them.
The UKHSA guide, last updated on Saturday, states that confirmed monkeypox infections should be admitted to the HCID department if they need medical attention.
At present, patients cannot be treated in normal wards because of the risk of spreading the infection to others, sources told MailOnline.
Infected Britons who are struggling with mild symptoms can safely recover at home, which means that not all cases in the UK will necessarily be bedridden with HCID.
The website understands that HCID’s national capacity has not yet exceeded the 50 percent threshold, and commentators say the pandemic has shown that the NHS can easily set up isolated wards if the number is to continue to grow.
Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert based at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline: “There is always a risk of losing our beds.
“It depends on how many cases need this level of managed facilities.
“If people want to stay at home, this is probably the safest place for them. Most adults do not get very sick from it, so they can deal with their illness at home.
“The concern is that at the outbreak in 2018, the case infected a health worker and it was believed that this was while they were changing the mattress, as the scales from their scabs were spreading.
“Patients should be kept in a specialist ward to avoid spreading.”
Dr Simon Clark, an infectious disease expert at the University of Reading, said: “If there was …
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