mpox

With the increase in cases of mpox, the European Union's Health Security Committee met on Monday. According to the Ministry of Health, the meeting concluded ‘with recommendations very similar to those previously issued by the WHO and the ECDC’. The risk of the likelihood of mpox spreading to the general EU population is currently considered to be ‘low’, although it increases in populations with close contact with diagnosed cases and in particularly vulnerable people. Further imported cases in the EU are not excluded and vaccination of the general population is not recommended. In addition, the HSC does not recommend border control.  
 

Sweden's public health agency issued a statement on Thursday indicating that a person has been diagnosed with mpox - formerly called monkeypox - caused by variant clade I. According to the Swedish agency, this is the first case of this variant to be diagnosed outside the African continent. The person would have been infected during a stay in a part of Africa where there is an outbreak of this variant of mpox, according to the statement. The announcement comes a day after the World Health Organisation declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has authorised the administration of monkeypox vaccine intradermally rather than subcutaneously. This will allow more people to be vaccinated in the absence of doses, but effectiveness and safety data are limited. The Public Health Commission has decided to follow this strategy except for pregnant women and immunocompromised persons. 

A study published today in The Lancet examines the clinical manifestations of monkeypox in 181 patients at three sexual health clinics in Madrid and Barcelona.

A recently published study analyses 185 cases of monkeypox reported in Spain up to 11 July and profiles the cases detected in Spain, as well as the most common dermatological symptoms.

A study published today analyses 185 cases of monkeypox reported in Spain up to 11 July.

With the increase in monkeypox cases worldwide, the World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak an international public health emergency. There is now a recommended vaccine for its prevention or mitigation. Here is what we know about it and what the current recommendations are.

Today the World Health Organisation declared smallpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The move was announced at a press conference by its director general, Tedros Adhanom, despite a lack of consensus in the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee.

The first study of UK cases of the current monkeypox outbreak finds differences between the symptoms of these patients and those of previous outbreaks in other parts of the world. The work is published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Communicating outbreaks of infectious diseases is not easy, especially when they affect population groups that may face discrimination. Cases of monkeypox among men who have sex with men remind us of the importance of reporting without stigma.