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Monkeypox in Germany: Munich and Berlin affected - WHO expert explains the route of infection

2022-05-25T03:11:51.725Z


Monkeypox in Germany: Munich and Berlin affected - WHO expert explains the route of infection Created: 05/25/2022, 05:01 By: Martina Lippl, Christoph Gschoßmann The Bundeswehr confirms a first case of monkeypox in Germany in Munich. Berlin is also affected. A virologist compares the virus with Corona. Monkeypox (Monkeypox): Cases of human monkeypox are increasing in Europe and North America. F


Monkeypox in Germany: Munich and Berlin affected - WHO expert explains the route of infection

Created: 05/25/2022, 05:01

By: Martina Lippl, Christoph Gschoßmann

The Bundeswehr confirms a first case of monkeypox in Germany in Munich.

Berlin is also affected.

A virologist compares the virus with Corona.

  • Monkeypox (Monkeypox): Cases of human monkeypox are increasing in Europe and North America.

  • First case in Germany: The Bundeswehr Institute for Microbiology in Munich first detected the monkeypox virus in a patient on May 19, 2022.

    There are also two cases in Berlin.

  • A virologist compares the virus with Corona and gives his assessment.

  • In adults, infection with the monkeypox virus is usually mild.

Update from May 22, 9:14 a.m.

The virologist Gerd Sutter has been researching vaccines for decades and also observes the spread of various smallpox viruses for the World Health Organization (WHO).

In an interview with Die

Zeit

, he expresses his assessment of monkeypox - and gives the all-clear.

"We don't have to fear a new pandemic," says Sutter: "Monkeypox viruses have been known for decades, are native to Central and West Africa, where outbreaks in humans are regularly observed, but they are relatively small.

Monkeypox viruses are also different pathogens than the variola viruses, which are specialized in humans, i.e. human pox.”

The virologist explains: “Monkeypox are zoonoses, i.e. diseases that repeatedly spread from animals to humans and are hardly ever transmitted between humans.

Since we no longer have any immunity to the classic smallpox viruses, which have been eradicated in nature for over 40 years, monkeypox also spreads from time to time, but only selectively.

They don't do it nearly as efficiently as the flu or Sars-CoV-2."

There are two approved vaccines, but Sutter says vaccination is not necessary for the general population.

“Most experts expect the outbreak to be short-lived and affect few people.

In order to become infected, you almost always need physical, direct contact with the smallpox lesions, i.e. the secretion from the pustules, or mucosal contact with the infected.”

Nevertheless, he issues a warning: Monkeypox is “the next example of how quickly pathogens can spread in a globalized world.” One must “prepare even better in the future for the fact that new viruses can always appear as pathogens.”

Berlin confirms second monkeypox case

Update from May 21, 4:54 p.m .:

Two cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in Berlin.

This was announced by the Senate Department for Health on Saturday.

The condition of the two patients is stable.

Contact persons are currently being investigated.

Sequencing should reveal whether it is the West or Central African strain of the virus.

"It can be assumed that further infections may be registered in the next few days."

also read

Monkeypox cases in Germany continue to rise - Lauterbach: Three weeks of isolation

Thunderstorms say goodbye to Germany: Only one region is still affected today

Health Senator Ulrike Gote (Greens) said there was no reason to panic, but reason to be cautious, as many scientific findings about the disease were still preliminary.

“However, experts assume that we do not have to fear a new pandemic.

But we now have to act quickly and consistently to identify and contain cases of infection.”

Monkeypox in Germany: A case is also confirmed in Berlin

Update from May 21, 1:47 p.m .:

A first case of monkeypox has also been confirmed in Berlin.

This is reported by

RTL

and

ntv

, who learned this from the doctor treating the person concerned.

Accordingly, the man suffers from mild symptoms such as exhaustion, muscle pain and has two of the smallpox typical of the disease, according to the infectiologist Heiko Jessen.

The patient was probably infected in a Berlin club last weekend.

According to his own statements, Jessen is currently looking after another suspected case with more pronounced symptoms - smallpox all over the body.

Jessen assumes that the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) will also confirm this case later in the day.

Jessen expects "an increase in cases in Berlin for the next week".

Munich monkeypox patient suffers from a milder variant

Update from May 21, 12:41 p.m .:

In the first case of monkeypox detected in Germany, the patient suffers from the milder West African of the two known virus variants.

This was the result of the genome analysis of the pathogen at the Bundeswehr Institute for Microbiology, as the Bavarian Ministry of Health announced on Saturday.

The Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) currently considers the general risk of infection for the population to be low.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, the Munich patient, who comes from Brazil, is the first case of monkeypox in Germany.

Monkey pox case: NRW investigates indications of possible contacts

Update from May 21, 10:23 a.m .:

In North Rhine-Westphalia, according to the State Ministry of Health, there are indications “of possible contacts of people with the monkeypox virus”.

A spokesman for the ministry told the German Press Agency on Saturday that these tips will be followed up.

The State Center for Health is in close contact with the standing working group of the competence and treatment centers for diseases caused by highly pathogenic pathogens.

“The situation is being closely monitored;

the doctors and the health authorities are asked to be more vigilant,” added the ministry spokesman.

According to the current findings of the Robert Koch Institute, a risk to the health of the general population in Germany is considered to be low.

Update from May 21, 10:13 a.m .:

With the observed accumulation, monkeypox is already an epidemic – however, it is “very unlikely that this epidemic will last long,” said Fabian Leendertz, founding director of the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) in Greifswald and head of the project group Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Pathogens at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

The cases can be narrowed down well via contact tracing and there are drugs and effective vaccines that could be used.

According to Leendertz, more data is urgently needed in order to be able to understand whether and how the recorded cases are related.

It is also important to decipher the genome of virus material from samples from those affected in order to check whether the pathogen has changed - for example in the direction of better transmissibility.

Monkeypox: how to protect yourself from infection?

Update from May 20, 5:10 p.m .:

More and more cases of monkeypox are becoming known in Europe and the first case has now been officially confirmed in Germany.

But how can you protect yourself from infection and is there already a vaccine?

Update from May 20, 3:40 p.m.:

According to the treating Munich Clinic Schwabing, the first reported monkeypox patient in Germany is doing relatively well.

The young man "went into medical care very responsibly immediately after the onset of symptoms to protect others from infection," said chief physician Clemens Wendtner on Friday.

With slight swallowing difficulties and an elevated temperature, he has only minor symptoms and does not yet need any special medication.

The monkeypox patient will remain in the hospital because it is expected to be infectious for three to four weeks, Wendtner said.

The monkeypox virus usually only causes very mild symptoms, but can also have severe courses.

kreiszeitung.de

also summarizes all important information about the pathogen

.

Monkeypox: The first patient in Germany comes from Brazil

Update from May 20, 1:50 p.m

.: The first reported monkeypox patient in Germany is a 26-year-old from Brazil.

This was announced by the Bavarian Ministry of Health on Friday.

The young man traveled from Portugal via Spain to Germany and has been in the Bavarian capital for about a week.

He had previously been to Düsseldorf and Frankfurt am Main.

The patient is now being isolated in a ward at the Munich Clinic Schwabing, the ministry said.

The Bundeswehr Institute for Microbiology in Munich had previously informed that it had detected the first monkeypox case in the Federal Republic in the patient on Thursday.

Further contacts are being identified.

Monkeypox outbreak: WHO is likely to call emergency meetings

Update from May 20, 1:24 p.m

.: The World Health Organization (WHO) is probably planning an emergency meeting after the recent monkeypox outbreaks.

This is reported by the British The Telegraph.

A group of leading experts should therefore be convened.

Because the virus is unusually common among gay and bisexual men, this could be a major topic of conversation.

Vaccination with a specific smallpox vaccine should therefore also be discussed.

Britain has also ordered smallpox vaccine.

This is also reported by the BBC at the request of the British government.

The vaccine should be offered to people at higher risk of infection.

Even if the smallpox vaccine is not specifically tailored to the monkeypox virus, it should offer some protection - especially against more serious diseases. 

Monkeypox confirmed in Germany - Lauterbach comments

First report from May 20, 2022

Munich – Cases of monkeypox are increasing in Europe and North America.

Now there is also a case of monkeypox in Germany.

This is reported by the Bundeswehr.

As the Bundeswehr Institute for Microbiology announced on Friday in Munich, the virus was unequivocally detected in a patient on Thursday.

The patient showed the characteristic skin changes.

The institute did not initially give any further details.

"It was only a matter of time before monkeypox was also detected in Germany," said Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach in Berlin on Friday, as reported by the afp news agency.

Lauterbach assumes that the outbreak can be contained.

Monkeypox: First case confirmed in Germany - infection and symptoms

"Based on the knowledge available so far, we assume that the virus is not so easily transmitted and that this outbreak can be contained," emphasized the Minister of Health.

“But that can only succeed if you act quickly.” The virus is now being analyzed more closely and it is being checked whether it could be a more contagious variant.

According to health authorities, the virus usually causes only mild symptoms, but can also have severe courses.

In individual cases, fatal diseases are possible.

The virus is mainly transmitted via direct contact or contact with contaminated materials. Transmission via droplets in the air is also possible over shorter distances – which is probably very rare.

Epidemiologist Paul Hunter from the University of East Anglia considers it very unlikely that diseases will be fatal in western countries.

But it's not impossible, he told the

BBC

.

Monkeypox is particularly dangerous for a group.

The West African variant of the virus, which occurs in Europe and the USA, kills around one percent of those infected in Africa.

There is also a Central African variant, with ten percent of cases on the continent being fatal.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, all age groups and both genders are equally susceptible.

Children are particularly affected by fatal courses in Africa.

Cases of monkeypox (Monkeypox) have so far occurred in 11 countries (as of May 20, 2022)

country

Monkeypox Cases

Portugal

5 confirmed monkeypox cases/ 20 suspected cases

Spain

7 confirmed monkeypox cases

Canada

2 confirmed cases of monkeypox/20 suspected cases

Great Britain

9 confirmed monkeypox cases

Italy

1 confirmed monkeypox case

Belgium

2 confirmed monkeypox cases

France

1 confirmed monkeypox case

Germany

1 confirmed monkeypox case

USA

1 confirmed monkeypox case

Australia

1 confirmed monkeypox case

Sweden

1 confirmed monkeypox case

Monkeypox in Germany/Munich: More and more infections are known

For experts, it was only a matter of time before there would be evidence of monkeypox in Germany.

"I would be surprised if we didn't find some infected people in Germany in a few days," said the President of the German STI Society Norbert Brockmeyer of the dpa news agency on Friday.

Based on the large number of cases in other Western countries, the doctor assumes that the virus has been circulating unnoticed for a while, said Brockmeyer: "Who still thinks of smallpox today?" Due to the increased attention to recent reports from Great Britain is now to be expected with a new awareness of infection and thus with increased evidence.

After initial cases in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden and France, as well as the US and Canada, reported confirmed and suspected cases.

Monkeypox: pathogens and symptoms - RKI gives advice

  • Typical

    symptoms of an infection with monkeypox

    according to the RKI:

  • Fever

  • Head, muscle and back pain

  • Swollen lymph nodes

  • chills

  • severe itchy rash

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) only called for vigilance on Thursday.

"In the event of a suspicious clinical picture, a monkeypox infection should be considered, especially in those returning from (West) Africa and, of course, in contact persons of known cases," says the Epidemiological Bulletin (May 19).

And further: monkeypox should also be considered as a possible cause in the case of unclear smallpox-like skin changes if those affected have not traveled to certain areas.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-05-25

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