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Minister of Health Lauterbach (right) with RKI boss Wieler (archive picture)
Photo: Jens Schicke / imago images / Jens Schicke
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) does not assume that monkeypox could become a major health problem in Germany.
"What we are currently experiencing with monkeypox is not the beginning of a new pandemic," he said at a press conference at the German Medical Association in Bremen.
Nevertheless, the current outbreaks must be taken seriously.
"There have been very frequent outbreaks and they can be contained well with contact tracing and caution," Lauterbach said.
However, one does not know why the outbreaks are currently taking a different course than before.
One possibility is that the pathogen has changed, another possibility is that people's susceptibility to the pathogen has changed.
“Now we have to find out all of this,” said Lauterbach.
Ordered 40,000 doses of smallpox vaccine
The minister explained how the Federal Ministry of Health, together with the Robert Koch Institute, now wants to proceed in this regard.
"If we contain outbreaks early, then we have the possibility that the pathogen does not settle in humans and become endemic," said Lauterbach.
It is therefore recommended that those infected should isolate themselves for at least 21 days.
"At least until the scabs fall off, because they can still be contagious," he added.
Contact persons are also strongly recommended to isolate themselves for three weeks.
The federal government has also ordered 40,000 vaccine doses in order to prepare for possible ring vaccinations - i.e. to vaccinate contacts of people infected with monkeypox quickly.
“It is currently unclear whether we will have to do that,” says Lauterbach.
Vaccination can both prevent infection and prevent or delay the onset of the disease.
More than 250 monkeypox cases worldwide
More than 250 cases of monkeypox from 16 countries have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).
However, this number of confirmed infections and suspected cases only affects countries in which the viral disease has not previously occurred regularly, said WHO expert Rosamund Lewis.
There are now five confirmed cases in Germany as well.
The disease is named monkeypox after the pathogen was first detected in monkeys in a Danish laboratory in 1958.
Experts suspect that the virus actually circulates in squirrels and rodents, while monkeys and humans are considered false hosts.
Symptoms of monkeypox in humans include fever, headache, muscle aches, and a rash that often starts on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body.
Most people recover from the disease within a few weeks, and death is rare.
There is no specific therapy and no vaccination against monkeypox.
According to historical data, however, a smallpox vaccination protects against monkeypox - and probably for life.
As the RKI explains, however, large parts of the world's population have no vaccination protection.
The institute has now set up its own website with information on monkeypox.
Great Britain recommends contact persons to be quarantined for three weeks
The British health authority UKHSA also recommends a three-week quarantine for close contacts of people infected with monkeypox.
It is highly likely to be infected if you either live in the same household with a sick person, have had sexual intercourse with such a person or have changed their bed linen without protective clothing, according to a statement.
Since the cases have so far increased among men who have sex with men, the Munich Aidshilfe warns against discrimination against this community.
»What we know so far is that the disease is probably transmitted by smear and droplet infection.
Blame or attribution to a specific group is out of place, "said Managing Director Tobias Oliveira Weismantel, according to a statement on Monday.
It is important not to fall into the trap of simplification, but to find out what the transmission path is like.
And those affected should not have to worry about going to the doctor.
"Monkeypox has been around for a long time and from what we know today, it's treatable," Oliveira Weismantel said.
Lauterbach also addressed this group at the press conference: "At the moment, men who have had sex with men are mainly affected," says Lauterbach.
However, this is not stigmatization, it is merely a description of the current risk group.
And now you have to address them.
Doctors, however, warn against "scaremongering".
Although they advise increased attention, especially in the case of conspicuous skin changes.
However, there is no reason to worry that the virus will spread like the corona virus.
Monkeypox is "far less contagious than Corona" and is transmitted almost exclusively through "close physical contact and bodily fluids," said Thomas Fischbach, President of the Professional Association of Pediatricians.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mass vaccinations against monkeypox are currently not necessary.
Measures such as hygiene and preventive sexual behavior would help contain the spread of the virus, said Richard Pebody, head of the pathogen team at WHO Europe.
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