Monkeypox continues to advance. After the detection of cases in Italy and Sweden, there are now six countries with confirmed infections by this virus. What initially seemed like a couple of isolated cases in the United Kingdom is turning into a growing outbreak that is already causing so much concern to the World Health Organization as well as health authorities around the globe. In fact, the concern is such that some countries are already developing their own action protocol. This is the case of Spain, where the purchase of antivirals and smallpox vaccines is being considered.
It should be noted that currently there is no approved vaccine against monkeypox in Europe. However, it has been found that the smallpox vaccine protects with an efficacy of approximately 85%. This vaccine came out of all vaccination schedules in the 1980s, when the smallpox was completely eradicated. For this reason, older people are protected to a certain extent, but those born later do not have that additional protection . Even so, some of these vaccines have continued to be used, especially in high-risk laboratory workers and the military.
The plan is to obtain a sufficient quantity of these vaccines and also antivirals that may be effective against this disease. And it is that initially all the cases detected in the world are being mild, but we must be prepared.
The current situation of monkeypox
Currently in Spain there are seven confirmed cases of monkeypox and more than twenty suspects under study. One of them has been detected in the Canary Islands and the rest in Madrid, although it is not ruled out that more appear in other communities.
Cases have also been detected in United Kingdomor, where the first case was reported, Portugal, Sweden, Italy and the United States. In Sweden and Italy they have in common a trip to the Canary Islands. In the United States, a trip to Canadaá, where several suspected cases are already being studied.
There are already confirmed cases in the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden and the United States
Countries continue to fall like dominoes, with several factors in common. The first, and the best news, is that they all have mild symptoms. The second thing is that it is about men, although that does not mean that women cannot be infected. It also seems that many of them are men who sleep with other men, but that does not indicate anything about the profile of people who can be infected . It is simply a bias, possibly derived from the places where they were infected.
For this reason, because anyone could become infected and it would be a danger if it reached vulnerable people, some countries have already taken measures. In the United Kingdom, for example, the smallpox vaccine is already being offered to high-risk health personnel and other highly exposed people. In Spain they have not started yet, but they are planning an extensive protocol to deal with monkeypox.
Unsplash The plans of Spain to face this new health threat
According to EFE data collected by Agencia Sinc, the Spanish Ministry of Health is already considering the purchase of the vaccine against smallpox developed by the pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic. It has the approval of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), but it is not authorized for sale in Spain, so it should be processed through the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS).
The two antivirals that are being considered for purchase have already been tested against monkeypox
On the other hand, the purchase of two antivirals is being considered: tecovirimat and cidofovir. The first affects a virus envelope protein, which is necessary for viruses to leave infected cells and spread to the rest of the body. As for the second, it prevents the multiplication of the virus. Both have been previously tested with monkeypox and proved to be effective, so they would be very useful if this outbreak continues to spread.
But at the moment all this is only under study. Right now the vital thing is to detect the cases as soon as possible, to isolate them and prevent them from infecting more people. Therefore, anyone with suspicious skin lesions is urged to go to the hospital immediately. And, in the same way, a call has been made to health centers so that any suspicious lesion is reviewed by experts in this disease. Contain, prevent and act. These are three verbs with which we have become very familiar in the last two years. Hopefully this time the situation will not last so long.
