Monkey pox numbers climb, but all infected are stable

The relentless focus on ‘monkey pox’ continues in Europe, with authorities in Portugal reporting that cases identified on national territory now number 138. They remain confined to men, essentially men who sleep with men, aged between 20 and 61 (the majority being in their 40s). But the bulletins remain largely unchanged: all these men are stable, recovering at home ‘accompanied by Portugal’s DGS health authority’. The majority are confined to the Lisbon/ Vale do Tejo region, although a few have been identified with the virus in the north and the Algarve. Authorities have stressed that “Portugal has the vaccines” to combat this strain of variola, and that monkey pox is basically a virus victims recover from without serious consequences.