Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Monkeypox update: Scottish health boss reassures public over outbreak

Monkeypox virus.
Monkeypox virus.

Health bosses have reassured the public over the monkeypox outbreak in the UK after Scotland’s first case was confirmed on Monday morning.

Dr Nick Phin, medical and public health science director at Public Health Scotland, says he is “confident this is not the next Covid”.

He also says the Scottish case is under investigation but not linked to ‘patient zero’, the first travel-related case which was identified in England.

This means the patient was most likely infected in the UK.

Infectious disease unit

However, Public Health Scotland would not confirm the location of the case other than saying the patient is receiving care and treatment in “one of the infectious disease units in Scotland.”

Ninewells Hospital’s Ward 42 is an infectious disease unit, where many Covid patients were cared for.

The unit in the hospital’s East Block has 18 inpatient beds, including 14 single isolation rooms, and six negative pressure isolation beds.

It also has a large outpatient and home parenteral antibiotic therapy (OHPAT) programme for non-life-threatening infection.

There are also infectious disease units at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital and at Glasgow’s Gartnavel General Hospital.

There are now 56 confirmed monkeypox cases in the UK.

‘This is not Covid two’

Dr Phin is keen to outline the differences between the monkeypox outbreak and the Covid pandemic “This is not Covid two for a number of reasons,” he says.

One is the fact there is already a vaccine available to treat monkeypox.

Although smallpox vaccination stopped in 1971, the vaccine Imvanex used to treat the disease also works for monkeypox.

Close contacts of an infected person are being offered the vaccine.

“There are a number of striking differences between this and Covid,” Dr Phin explains.

“We’ve got a longer incubation period – once someone is exposed between five and 14 or seven and 21 days. So we have longer to look back at cases.

Vaccine

“We’ve got an effective vaccine and we’ve got effective medication (anti-virals). So it is much more straightforward to control.

“And there is not what we understand to be an asymptomatic phase. So, if you’ve got symptoms that’s when you’re infectious.”

He added that vaccines would not be compulsory or lead to a vaccination programme as with Covid.

Initial symptoms of monkeypox include fever or high temperature, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.

The stages of monkeypox. The disease is spread through close contact with an infected person.

A blister-like rash or small number of blister-like sores can develop, often beginning on the face, then spreading to other parts of the body, including the genital area.

The rash changes and goes through different stages, before finally forming a scab, which typically falls off over the course of a couple of weeks.

Risk is low

Individuals are infectious from the point symptoms start until all the scabs fall off.

Dr Phin continues: “The overall risk to the general public is low.

“Anyone with an unusual blister-like rash or small number of blister-like sores on any part of their body, including their genital area, should avoid close contact with others and seek medical advice if they have any concerns.”

Conversation