Monkeypox: epidemic down

In his last point position Regarding Monkeypox, Public Health France (SpF) confirms a downward trend in new cases. As of September 12, 2022, 3,833 confirmed cases have been identified in France, i.e. 112 additional cases since the assessment of September 6. The Île-de-France region still has the highest number of cases (2,332, or 61%), followed by Occitanie (308 cases), Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (264 cases) and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (246 cases); 20 cases reside abroad. As since the start of the epidemic, the vast majority of confirmed adult cases identified to date concern men (97.9%). The proportion of female cases has increased over the past few weeks, explains SpF. “Among all confirmed cases reported in week 36 (unconsolidated data), 12.9% are women (compared to 5.7% in week 35 (according to consolidated data), 7.5% in week 34 and 5 .8% in week 33)”. But Santé Publique France qualifies: “The number of confirmed cases reported in women remains low (maximum of 12 cases reported in week 34 and week 36), in a context of a decrease in the total number of confirmed cases for several weeks. These data should therefore be interpreted with caution. Nine (0.2%) children under the age of 15 were reported as confirmed cases. Concerning the severity of the identified cases of Monkeypox, Public Health France indicates that – among the confirmed cases for which the information is available -, 81 (2.1%) were hospitalized because of their infection, this proportion remains stable in the time. No deaths have been reported to date in France. “These data suggest that the peak of contaminations took place at the end of June / beginning of July and that the number of confirmed cases has tended to decrease since then, but might stabilize”, notes SpF. And the public health body concludes: “We must nevertheless remain cautious because the summer period might lead to delays in diagnosis and declaration. Similarly, some people may not have sought care.” Several other countries, particularly in Europe, are also observing a slowdown or even a decrease in the number of new confirmed cases declared in recent weeks. As of September 14, the site Monkeypoxtally listed 58,766 confirmed cases and 19 deaths worldwide.