Spain will vaccinate against smallpox only direct contacts of people infected with monkeypox. The Public Health Commission has approved this Thursday the vaccination against monkeypox (‘monkeypox’, in English).
At the present time, “and taking into account the limited dose availability,” the Ministry of Health will prioritize vaccination “post-exposure” in people “at high risk of severity or exposure”. That is, those who have been direct contacts of people already infected.
As reported by Health, “Pre-exposure vaccination is not recommended at this time,” although he acknowledges that “it could be recommended later depending on the evolution of the outbreak and the availability of vaccines.”
In addition, regarding covid-19, this Thursday the Public Health Commission has also approved the administration of a second booster dose in the most vulnerable population, Specially in Residents of nursing homes and people aged 80 and over and the most appropriate time should be established according to the epidemiological situation.
monkey pox
Spain is the second European country, after the United Kingdom, with more cases of monkeypox. The Ministry of Health has notified, so far, 233 positive cases. The latest balance was published yesterday and represented a total of eight more infections than on Monday.
To date, the Carlos III Health Institute has received other 462 samples belonging to suspected cases, 23 more than the previous day.
On the other hand, and once some samples have been reviewed, the negatives stand at 229 cases for smallpox and others for orthopoxvirus, therefore they are ruled out as cases, as reported by Health.
The protocol of the Ministry of Health classifies cases between probable and suspicious depending on whether the patient meets clinical and epidemiological criteria (probable cases) or if he only presents clinical criteria, which is considered a suspected case.
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Monkeypox is a rare zoonotic disease, that is, transmissible between animals and humans, with symptoms such as fever, headache and muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, as well as rashes on the hands and face, similar to those produced by traditional smallpox, although less serious.
According to the WHO, the mortality rate has varied in the different epidemics, but has been less than 10% in the documented events.