As Uganda battles to wipe out the Mpox disease (formerly known as monkeypox) which is a disease caused by infection with a virus, retrospective studies show that the spread is high within the sex workers’ circles.
Lincoln Kezaala Surveillance officer and member of the health task force Entebbe – Wakiso district says that amongst the cases handled now in Entebbe, 140 infected with 127 being active, while majority discharged, it has been found out that the infected cases have a trace in commercial sexual activities.
“As we do this retrospective study, we see that majority of them have been infected through these sexual workers. The sexual workers don’t record of who were their clients and even if they know, they are not disclosing – But interventions are on to help these sexual workers especially in the fishing villages around Entebbe – Wakiso, and different partners like UNICEF are now board” explained Kezaala
Mpox is zoonotic virus disease carried by animals, in this case wild animals like; Squirrels and Monkeys. It’s transmitted to human through contact with the animals that carry this virus and this also includes eating meat of these animals.
People with Mpox often get a rash and may have other symptoms like fever, chills, exhaustion, headache, respiratory symptoms (e.g., sore throat, nasal congestion, or cough), muscle aches, backache and swollen lymph nodes.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Mpox symptoms start within 21 days of exposure to the virus, and it is advisable to visit a health provider if you have flu-like symptoms and a rash that sets in 1–4 days later.
A person with mpox can spread it to others from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed.
New data show that some people can spread mpox to others from one to four days before their symptoms appear. It’s not clear how many people this has affected during the ongoing global outbreak that began in 2022. There is currently no evidence showing that people who never have symptoms have spread the virus to someone else.