TY - JOUR AU - Paulino-Ramirez, Robert AU - Ribas Freitas, André Ricardo PY - 2022/09/12 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Viral Adaptation, Vulnerable Health Care Systems and Health Inequities: Monkeypox as an emerging threat in the Global Health Agenda JF - InterAmerican Journal of Medicine and Health JA - IAJMH VL - 5 IS - SE - Editorial DO - 10.31005/iajmh.v5i.247 UR - https://iajmh.com/iajmh/article/view/247 SP - AB - <p>Due to the increasing number of monkeypox virus (MPXV) cases, WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The transmission of monkeypox has been described during this outbreak associated with close sexual contact through the skin with infectious lesions. It is not very clear whether this virus is better adapting to human-human transmission, we do not know if the case fatality rate is being lower during the current global spread due to genetic changes in the virus or as an effect of a better understanding of the actual number of mild cases of infections. The emergence of pathogens, particularly the spillover of zoonotic viruses, is not a totally unpredictable phenomenon, the current monkeypox multi-country outbreak was preceded by a progressive increase in the number of cases in recent decades and changes in the epidemiological profile in affected areas of Africa. We must resume the conversation with civil society organizations, bring a more sex-positive health discourse through a healthy and stigma-free scientific dialogue.</p> ER -