The virus infection has so far been identified in 352 people in the Netherlands, according to the most recent figures published on Monday. A big increase compared to the week before.
It is therefore important, according to experts, that the outbreak is contained. At the end of this week, an advice will be issued to the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport on how this should be done.
High risk
Preventive vaccination is a possible advice. “Vaccinating a group that is at high risk helps to contain the virus,” says internist-infectiologist Chantal Bleeker-Rovers of Radboudumc. “Then the chance of passing on the infection decreases.”
But which group could then receive such a jab is still being looked at. “In Europe, the virus mainly occurs in men who have sex with men. But not everyone within that group is at increased risk of the virus. So the exact criteria are still being considered,” says Bleeker-Rovers.
The doctor gives an example of such a criterion: “Men who use PrEP, an agent that protects against HIV, have varied sexual contacts more often. They also have an increased risk of contracting monkey pox and spreading it further.”
Preventive vaccination
Virologist Jean-Luc Murk of the Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital also believes that we should contain the virus as much as possible. “It can make quite a few people sick. People with a weakened immune system can certainly die from it,” he says.
He believes that preventive vaccination of risk groups is therefore sensible. Because of the community in which the virus now mainly circulates, Murk thinks it is a good idea in this case to preventively vaccinate men who have sex with men and have varying contacts. In addition, good detection is important. “The GGD does this with source and contact research in people who have tested positive.”
STI Aids The Netherlands has been calling for vaccinations at risk for some time now. “Who falls under that group? Men who have sex with men with varying sexual contacts,” says Anna Nijsters. “Since the outbreak, we have disseminated information about how to recognize it and how to prevent it from spreading. That was not enough to contain the virus. That is why we now say: the group is still small and limited, take this group preventively. vaccinate.”
Anyone have a vaccine?
It is therefore advisable to wait and see which group should be vaccinated according to the experts. But why don’t we just throw those criteria overboard and just give everyone who wants it a vaccine? “There is no infinite amount of vaccines in the Netherlands. That is why we should look most at those that are especially at risk,” explains Bleeker-Rovers.
6000 cases of monkey pox worldwide
Worldwide, more than 6000 cases of monkeypox have been reported from 58 countries. About 80 percent of infection reports come from Europe, reports the World Health Organization (WHO). It will organize another meeting of the committee later this month that will advise whether the outbreak is a reason to declare a global crisis situation. That status is the highest alert level within the WHO.