The incubation period (interval from infection to onset of symptoms) of monkeypox is usually from 6 to 16 days but can range from 5 to 21 days.
The infection can be divided into two periods:
Invasion period (0-5 days)
It comes with fever, intense headache, swelling of the lymph node, back pain, muscle aches and intense lack of energy.
Skin eruption period (within 1-3 days after appearance of fever). Various stages of the rash appears, often beginning on the face and then spreading elsewhere on the body.
In 95% of cases, the face is most affected; in 75% of cases, the soles of the feet are most affected.
The rashes evolve from lesions with flat bases to blisters filled to fluid. Then they become pustules and turn to crust in approximately 10 days.
Three weeks might be necessary before the complete disappearance of the crusts.
The lesions can number from a few to several thousand and affect mucous linings of the mouth, genitals, eyelids and eyeballs.
Some patients develop severely swollen lymph nodes before the appearance of the rash, which is a distinctive feature of monkeypox compared to other similar diseases.
Monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with the symptoms lasting from 14 to 21 days.
Severe cases occur more commonly among children and are related to the extent of virus exposure, patient health status and severity of complications.
People living in or near the forested areas may have indirect or low-level exposure to infected animals, possibly leading to infections that show no symptoms.
The case fatality has varied widely between epidemics but has been less than 10% in documented events, mostly among young children. In general, younger age-groups appear to be more susceptible to monkeypox. Adapted from WHO.
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