In less than a month, the number of Monkeypox cases in Belgium has more than tripled according to the Sciensano public health institute.
In the middle of June, 52 cases of the virus were confirmed on the Belgian territory. That total now stands at 168 according to findings published on Wednesday by Sciensano.
Of the 168 cases, 92 of them are from Flanders, 64 from Brussels and 13 in Wallonia.
Summary of symptoms
These latest findings have also provided information on the symptoms experienced by 163 out of the 168 currently infected.
98% of those contaminated have developed a skin rash, with more than 7 in 10 of them also experiencing general symptoms of fever, general malaise and swollen lymph nodes.
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For 75% of those with skin lesions, they mainly appear in in the anal-genital region of the body.
How did they get infected?
For 96% of those infected, the presumed mode of transmission of the virus was through sexual contact between men.
For half of them, this occurred during a private and small event with sexual contact, and for 42% they were infected due to large group events with sexual contact, in Belgium or abroad.
For 8% of those infected, participation in a party or other activity without sexual contact caused them to catch the virus.
Danger posed
For the time being, 12 people have been hospitalised with the virus, representing 7% of those infected.
Out of those hospitalised, 8 were in hospital to receive treatment, 1 person because he couldn't isolate at home, while the reason for the other 3 hospitalisations has not yet been provided.
