The spokesperson for the General Directorate of Health (DGS) of the monkey pox said this Saturday that it “may make sense” to vaccinate groups of the population before being exposed to the virus, a possibility that depends on the increase in the doses available.
“I predict that this might make sense in the very short term and be discussed internationally and implemented in several countries. To have more peace of mind when taking this measure, we needed more vaccines,” DGS specialist Margarida Tavares told Lusa.
According to him, with the number of vaccines available once morest monkeypox, Portugal currently does not have a “completely different alternative” than the current one of vaccinating close contacts of confirmed cases of infection, a process that has started until to July 16.
Portugal received 2700 doses of vaccines once morest human viral infection monkey poxdonation from the European Commission, through HERA (Health Authority for Preparedness and Intervention).
Margarida Tavares, director of the National Program for Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV Infections at the DGS, expressed hope that the country will soon have more vaccines, which would allow certain populations to be vaccinated before pregnancy. to the VMPX virus. “There are currently not a large number of vaccines available for purchase in the world,” the doctor said.
Portugal has a total of 588 confirmed cases of virus infection monkey pox and more than 16,000 infections have been reported globally in 75 countries, prompting the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Saturday.
“We were one of the first countries [da Europa] affected and seriously affected. For a long time it was limited to the Lisbon region and the Tagus Valley, which has more than 80% of the reported cases, but at the moment the north is starting to be affected, where there are also a significant number case,” says Margarida, Tavares.
According to the expert, the explanation for the number of cases recorded in Portugal is “very simple” and has to do with the fact that, almost simultaneously with England, it was “where the epidemic began” in Western Europe, then appeared in other countries such as Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands.
“Unlike other countries, which are still experiencing exponential growth in their activity, we had strong growth at the beginning, but for many weeks we have had the same number of cases per week”, assured the expert of the DGS.
According to him, Portugal has no problem with undiagnosed cases, but it is “very important” that health professionals report infections detected in the national surveillance system.
