18 additional cases of monkeypox since January 24. As of March 23, 2023, Public Health France (SPF) counted 5,000 cases of infection with the “mpox” virus, the scientific name for a serious form of smallpox. In its latest update, SPF reports a cluster that has been identified in the Centre-Val de Loire.
In detail, from January 1 to March 23, 17 cases have been confirmed in the region. They are, without knowing their identities, men aged 24 to 56 years. All of them confirmed having had homosexual sexual intercourse, the Agency reports in its status report. No public or private place or event has yet been identified by Public Health France.
Six of the 17 cases observed by SPF were in men who had not been vaccinated against monkeypox. Another man does not have a complete vaccination schedule. The other ten people have been vaccinated. Given the number of people vaccinated in this cluster (59% compared to 25% at the regional level), further investigations should be carried out. Public Health France and the Tours Regional Pharmacovigilance Center are in charge of the investigation.
For the rest of the territory, of the 5,000 confirmed cases, 4,144 (83%) were biologically confirmed and 856 (17%) are probable or possible cases, not biologically confirmed.
