The High Authority for Health (HAS) recommended on Friday July 8 to extend vaccination against monkeypox to “
most exposed groups
”, in particular homosexuals, multi-partner trans people, people in prostitution.
"
Faced with the spread of the Monkeypox virus, the kinetics of the epidemic and the difficulties of tracing the contacts of infected people
", the HAS recommends extending vaccination to be able to administer it preventively to the most exposed "
because of their sexual practices or their profession
,” according to a statement.
577 confirmed cases in France
This recommendation concerns "
men who have sex with men and trans people reporting multiple sexual partners, people in prostitution, professionals in places of sexual consumption, regardless of the status of these places
", specified the HAS.
In France, according to the latest figures, as of July 5, 577 cases have been confirmed, including 387 in Ile-de-France.
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These cases occurred mainly in men, and when this information is provided, especially in men who have sex with men, or even who had several partners in the weeks before their symptoms.
At this stage, the HAS does not recommend the preventive vaccination of healthcare professionals caring for patients, considering that the usual hygiene measures and the wearing of personal protective equipment make "
the risk of contamination very low in practice
" .
.
"Risk factors"
This vaccination can however be considered “
on a case-by-case basis, depending on exposure, the existence of individual risk factors or at their request
”, she added.
Until then, the High Authority for Health recommended vaccinating adults, including health professionals, who had risky contact with a patient.
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It had been seized at the end of last week by the Ministry of Health to determine to which populations to extend vaccination to limit the risk of contamination for people at risk of exposure to the virus.
LGBTQI + associations, certain health professionals, and, more recently, left-wing parties, had asked the ministry about an extension to men who have sex with other men.