According to a study, 95 percent of monkeypox cases are the result of infection through sexual contact. For the study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists evaluated 528 confirmed infections in 16 countries between April 27 and June 24.
“It is important to emphasize that monkeypox is not a venereal disease in the traditional sense; they can be transmitted through any kind of close physical contact,” explained study author John Thornhill. “However, our work suggests that most transmissions are associated with sexual activity – primarily, but not exclusively, between men who have sex with men.”
According to the study, 98 percent of those infected were men who had had sexual contact with the same sex. 41 percent were infected with the HI virus, the median age was 38 years.
Because of the spread of monkeypox, the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Committee met on Thursday to discuss whether a global health emergency should be declared. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was “concerned” about the increase in cases. It was unclear when the result of the nearly six-hour deliberations would be published.
At their emergency meeting in June, the experts advised the WHO Secretary-General against declaring the highest alert level. Since then, however, the cases of infection have continued to spread, and the US health authorities CDC are now reporting around 15,400 cases in 71 countries.
A less dangerous cousin of smallpox, which was eradicated about 40 years ago, monkeypox is commonly found in West and Central Africa. Since May, however, monkeypox has also been spreading to other countries, especially in Western Europe, including Germany.
Typical symptoms of the disease include high fever, swollen lymph nodes and pustules similar to chickenpox. The disease is transmitted through close body and skin contact.
“Lauterbach wants everyone to be vaccinated, in consultation with the family doctor,” said WELT reporter Marie Przibylla. But does the fourth vaccination make sense and is the fifth vaccination recommendation from the Minister of Health coming in the autumn?
Source: WELT / Carsten Hädler
