Until then, vaccination was only offered to people with exposure known to this disease. From now on, the prevention and the fight against disease centers extend their recommendation to contact cases and to people who have had risky behavior in areas of strong propagation.
Le Monde with AFP
The American health authorities announced, Tuesday, June 28, the immediate distribution of 56,000 doses of vaccine against the variolate of the monkey, or five times the number of doses already distributed, in areas where the transmission is high. It is now recommended that these vaccines be administered “to people recently exposed to the variole of the monkey who may not have been identified via surveys and the search for contact cases,” announced Rochelle Walensky, director of prevention and prevention centers Fight against diseases (CDC), the country’s main health agency.
For example are concerned the men involved in sexual relations with other men who recently had several sexual partners in a place where the presence of the variolate of the monkey is known, or even in an area where this disease is spread.
Soon 240,000 doses available
Some 4,700 cases have been detected since the beginning of May worldwide, including 306 in the United States, none having been deadly, said Rochelle Walensky. Known in humans since 1970, the variole of the monkey is considered to be much less dangerous and contagious than its cousin, the smallpox, eradicated in 1980. It is endemic in several countries of Central and West Africa.
The US government has so far distributed more than 10,000 doses of vaccine, and distributed additional doses of the Jynneos vaccine on Tuesday, said David Boucher, from the Ministry of Health. The jynneos vaccine is administered in two doses. Authorities are ensured to have 240,000 additional doses in the coming weeks.
Local communities can also order the older generation ACAM2000 vaccine, whose authorities have greater quantity, but which is not recommended for all audiences because of its side effects. According to observers, the actual number of monkey variole cases in the United States could be much higher than the official account.