- Philippa Roxby
- Health Affairs Correspondent
23 May 2022
Twenty cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in Britain
Doctors have warned monkeypox might have a “tremendous impact” on sexual health services and their ability to provide them to those in need.
Clinics are forced to impose isolation measures on their workers, if they come into contact with any infected person.
In London, where most of the 20 identified cases in Britain were discovered, sexual health clinics have banned people from entering them entirely.
The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV said it was concerned regarding the impact on other infections.
The World Health Organization says cases of monkeypox, which are generally mild, are rare outside Central and West Africa but regarding 80 cases have been confirmed in at least 12 countries.
The presence of infection was confirmed in Italy, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, the United States, Canada, as well as Britain, where the first European case was reported.
Monkeypox can spread when someone comes into close contact with an infected person. The virus can enter the body through broken skin, or through the eyes, nose, or mouth.
This disease was not previously described as a sexually transmitted infection, but it can be transmitted through direct contact during sex.
The latest cases in Britain were of gay or bisexual men, prompting Britain’s Health Security Agency to encourage men who have had same-sex practices to be aware of any unusual rashes or wounds.
The authorities have asked them to contact the local sexual health service, if they have concerns.
‘Clinic workers must be isolated’
Dr Claire Deusnap, consultant urologist and chair of the British Society for Sexual Health and HIV, said staff in sexual health clinics were “already under a lot of pressure” and monkeypox was making the situation worse.
picture released, UKHSA
The rash caused by the disease changes and goes through different stages, before eventually forming a crust that later falls off
“It (the disease) is already straining the workforce and it will have a massive impact if employees are forced to self-isolate, if they have been in close contact with an infected person,” Dr. Deusnap added.
“I am concerned regarding the potential impact on access to sexual health services in general,” she added.
In London, clinics require all patients to contact staff in advance and tell them their symptoms, before they are scheduled for an appointment, so that people with monkeypox symptoms can be kept away from waiting rooms or clinics where other people are present.
Clinics elsewhere also ask people with unusual skin rashes to call ahead, so they can be examined in separate settings.
Some workers in sexual health clinics have already received the smallpox vaccine, to help protect them from monkeypox. The smallpox vaccine provides some good protection because the two viruses are very similar.
Twenty cases of monkeypox were confirmed in Britain, following 11 additional cases were announced on Friday, most of them mild.
However, the disease can be more severe, especially in young children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems.
On Friday, British Health Minister Sajid Javid said his country was stockpiling doses of the smallpox vaccine to help protect some groups from the virus.
The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting with experts on the spread of the virus, which is usually found in remote areas of Central and West Africa.
Sir Peter Horby, director of the University of Oxford’s Institute of Epidemiology, told the BBC: “It is an unusual situation where we appear to have been exposed to the virus, but it is now constantly transmitted within certain communities.”
He said the main message for people with symptoms was to “seek care, get diagnosed, and then somehow isolate them at home so they don’t spread the disease.”
When asked regarding the effectiveness of current treatments, he said that there is a preventive treatment following exposure to the virus that can be given to close contacts, and an antiviral drug is also being tested in Central Africa, “so there is a lot that can be done.”