Is a smallpox vaccination useful?
Professional societies advocate three measures against monkeypox
Created: 06/09/2022, 09:21
By: Juliane Gutmann
The monkeypox virus is currently causing illness on four continents.
There are several ways to break the chain of infection.
As of May 24, 2022, approximately 250 cases of monkeypox have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).
A low number that nevertheless alarms health authorities worldwide.
Until the current outbreak, the monkeypox virus has mostly only caused cases in West and Central Africa.
The special smallpox viruses are common in rodents there, as the Robert Koch Institute informs.
It goes on to say that monkeys are so-called “false hosts”.
Only a few cases of monkeypox infections have been reported outside of Africa, according to the editorial network Germany.
Almost exclusively those
returning
from the affected regions were affected, it is said.
What led to the occurrence of monkeypox in many non-African countries in 2022 and even without prior travel to risk areas by some patients is still being discussed.
Monkeypox: how do you get infected?
So far, infections have mainly occurred in younger men who reported having sex with men.
But there have also been intra-familial transmissions
, as a press release from the German Society for Infectious Diseases (dgi) shows.
The following ways of
transmission
of monkeypox are possible:
Direct skin or mucous membrane contact
droplet infection
According to historical data, a smallpox vaccination protects against monkeypox, and probably for life, as the German Press Agency informs.
© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
Increasing numbers of cases: what measures are effective against the spread of monkeypox
According to the German Society for Infectious Diseases, the problem is: “
The current infection process is dynamic, with the number of cases increasing
”.
In order to prevent further outbreaks of monkeypox, the medical-scientific specialist societies DAIG, DGI, DGPI and GfV, the professional association dagnä and the DZIF, in coordination with the STIKO, propose the following measures:
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Quarantine:
According to the dgi, people who have not been vaccinated against smallpox without a vaccination certificate or vaccination scars should avoid contact with changing sexual partners or sharing beds and clothing.
Furthermore, infected people should be quarantined for 21 days.
Since the disease is usually mild, isolation in your own four walls is usually sufficient.
According to the dgi recommendation, not only those who are definitely infected, but also contact persons and suspected cases should go into quarantine during the incubation period or until the infection has been ruled out with certainty.
Vaccinations:
As the German press agency dpa informs, there is no approved vaccination specifically against monkeypox.
However, historical data would show that a smallpox vaccination protects well against monkeypox - and probably for life.
The dgi press release states: “A non-replicative smallpox vaccine (MVA-BN) has been approved in the EU for protection against smallpox infections in adulthood.
Based on animal data, this vaccine is also approved for the prevention of monkeypox in the United States and Canada."
In order to avoid monkeypox infections or to alleviate the course of the disease, a smallpox vaccination should be considered for people who have not yet been vaccinated, according to the dgi.
The company therefore demands that the European Medicines Agency EMA and the Standing Vaccination Commission STIKO deal with the topic.
Drug therapy
: Tecovirimat, an antiviral drug for the treatment of monkeypox infection, is currently approved in the EU, according to the current statement.
An alternative is the non-approved antiviral drug brincidofovir. The availability of the drugs must now be ensured, according to the dgi's requirement.