a Dutch A child below the age of ten has tested positive monkeypox First confirmed pediatric case as part of the current outbreak of tropical virus – after family holiday in Turkey.
The unidentified child was taken to Emma Children’s Hospital in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in late June after she complained of rashes.
Doctors counted 20 sores on his face, ears, arms, thighs and back, but the patient did not have a fever or swollen lymph nodes.
Within a week his body had dropped to undetectable levels of the virus, and he made a full recovery. None of his close ones tested positive for monkeypox.
It is not clear how he became infected, but tests have ruled out that it was linked to sexual abuse. The family of five said they had no close contact with other guests while on vacation and kept their towels on chairs and loungers.
His parents, one of his siblings and a friend – all considered to be at high risk – were vaccinated against the Genius jab, which is being used in the US.
The report comes as the United States confirms its first two cases of the tropical virus states, as confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The young man – who has not been named – was taken to Emma Children’s Hospital in Amsterdam, Netherlands in late June, complaining of a rash (pictured is one of the first on his jaw)
More than 20 rashes emerged on his body, he said
Pictured above is one of the visible rashes on his arm
Dutch hospital doctors revealed the diagnosis in the magazine on Thursday Eurosurveillance,
Dr Marcelin van Firth, who led the investigation, said they were promoting the matter to ‘raise awareness … that children can develop monkeypox’.
He warned that children – along with older adults and pregnant women – are vulnerable to monkeypox, with about three percent dying from the infection.
The current outbreak has detected more than 16,000 cases globally, mostly in gay or bisexual men, who have caught the disease through sexual contact.
Experts fear the disease has already spread to other populations, but has yet to be detected due to a lack of testing.
Monkeypox does not require sexual contact to spread, and is primarily spread through close physical contact or scabs that get stuck on towels or bedding. In rare cases it can also be passed through the air.
The US has detected 2,500 cases in the current outbreak – the second highest tally in the world behind only Spain with 3,000. The Netherlands has seen 700, while Turkey has detected one case.
The Dutch monkeypox patient first realized he was unwell shortly after returning from Turkey, when he noticed two small red skin lesions on his left cheek and jaw.
His doctor initially diagnosed mild dermatomycosis — the medical term for a fungal infection — and prescribed anti-fungal creams.
But when more sores appeared the medic feared she had impetigo – a bacterial infection that causes sores on the body – and gave her antibiotics.
The boy was referred to the hospital with a suspected case of monkeypox – with the swab being positive at the hospital as they continued to ooze over his ear, forearm, thighs and back.
Her parents and two siblings were also tested for the virus, but all gave negative results.
Dutch health officials vaccinated both parents, a sibling and a friend, who were considered to be at ‘high risk’ of becoming infected. No one later developed the virus.
An investigation was launched to establish where the child caught the disease, but this was inconclusive.
There was no evidence that the child was in possession of a suspected or confirmed case of monkeypox before catching the disease.
Parents also said that they took care at the time of vacation to use their own towels and not have close contact with other guests, limiting the risk of transmission.
The analyzes showed that the boy who was caught was the same strain circulating in Europe’s current outbreak.
In the paper, medics wrote: ‘Since no plausible source could be identified, this leaves us an open question regarding transmission.
‘In the current outbreak, the major route of transmission is related to sexual activity in a community of men who have sex with men.
‘However, other indirect transmission routes have been described, such as respiratory transmission through droplets or contaminated materials such as bedding and towels.
‘Therefore, it is possible that the child was in close contact with an infectious person or a contaminated object that was not identified as such.’
He said that it usually takes about eight and a half days for someone infected with monkeypox to show symptoms.
But suggested that for the boy it was likely to be as long as 21 days because the route of transmission was different.
He had traveled to Turkey three weeks before showing symptoms.
His parents said that the boy had chickenpox when he was five years old.