Only recently a diagnosed case of monkeypox in a four-year-old child in Germany caused uncertainty. A short time later, the finding turns out to be an error. In Luxembourg, however, an infection in a small child has now been detected again.
An infection with the monkeypox virus has been detected in a small child in Luxembourg. The child is “in a stable and not worrying condition,” said the Luxembourg Ministry of Health. It was housed in isolation. The daycare the child attended will remain open as no other child is currently showing symptoms, the statement said. People with whom the child was in contact have been informed. The child’s age and gender were not specified.
According to figures from August 10, 41 men in Luxembourg had been infected with the monkeypox virus by then. The average age was 39 years. In Germany, where more than 3,200 cases have been registered so far, no such infection has been detected in a child.
Only recently did the health department take back the monkeypox previously diagnosed in a four-year-old girl from Pforzheim. The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Health in Stuttgart announced that the child did not have monkeypox.
The reason for this is that the positive finding was not confirmed by a further diagnostic clarification for monkeypox in the laboratory of the state health department. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced the case last week. According to the RKI situation report, the girl lives in a household with two infected adults.
Because the girl did not show any signs of illness, both the original sample and two other throat swabs from the child were also examined by the state health department using specific monkeypox PCR. “A monkeypox infection of the child could be ruled out,” the ministry said.
Monkeypox is considered a less serious disease compared to smallpox, which has been eradicated since 1980. According to the RKI, the incubation period is 5 to 21 days. Symptoms, which may include fever and a rash, usually go away on their own within a few weeks.
