3 days Ago By Ellen Fitzpatrick
A MAJOR health alert is being issued across the country following a new study into the spread of Mpox. A new study has emerged that looks into the spread of Mpox in Ireland between May 2022 and May 2023. The results of this study have shown that one person infected had 75 sexual partners over the previous 21 days.
It was carried out by the Irish Medical Journal and saw that 229 people had been infected over a 12 month period. Mpox is an infectious disease that is similar in nature to smallpox, but is less severe. Its symptoms include fever , swelling of the lymph nodes, pain and skin lesions.
It is spread through physical contact such as kissing or sex, it can be passed during pregnancy or through contact with infected animals. The study showed that 226 of the cases were found in men, with only three present in women. These aged between 16 to 68, with 46 per cent of cases aged between 18 and 34.
The median number of sexual partners for those infected was two within the 21 days prior. The vast majority, 99 per cent, of those who took part in the study identified as gay, bixsexual or men who have sex with men. Almost half of those in the study said Ireland was their country of birth, with under a third coming from South or Central America .
Over 28 per cent of people in the study were HIV positive and one in ten people who were infected with Mpox had to be admitted to hospital. In summer of 2022, there was an outbreak in the infection but it rapidly declined following. The stud.
