Since March 1, fourteen cases of monkeypox have been identified in Centre-Val de Loire. In all, in this region, between January 1 and March 23, 2023, seventeen people with this disease were registered, making it a cluster, according to Public Health France. All of the sick people are men who have sex with men (MSM) between the ages of 24 and 56.
10 people vaccinated against monkeypox
Monkeypox, now called Mpox, is a virus that is transmitted to humans from animals or other humans. The latter are contagious as soon as the first symptoms appear and the incubation period ranges from seven to fourteen days.
“In most cases, the symptoms of monkeypox go away on their own after a few weeks, can we read on the website of the World Health Organization (WHO). However, in some people, the infection can lead to medical complications and even death.”
Currently, vaccination is recommended for people who have been in contact with an infected person, but also, as a preventive measure, for people most exposed to the virus. These are MSM and having multiple sexual partners, trans people having multiple sexual partners, sex workers, etc.
In the cluster identified in Centre-Val de Loire, of the seventeen infected men, ten had a complete vaccination schedule, six were not vaccinated and one person had an incomplete vaccination schedule.
An ongoing investigation to better understand the appearance of the cluster
The vaccination schedule includes two doses, spaced at least 28 days apart and at most 35 days apart. “Vaccination does not confer immediate protection and is probably not 100% effective: it is therefore important to continue to avoid any risky contact with a person infected with the monkeypox virus or suspected of being so.”, indicates the site vaccinationinfoservice.fr.
“Given the high proportion (59%) of vaccinated people in this cluster, investigations were carried out by Public Health France and the Tours Regional Pharmacovigilance Centerexplains Public Health France. The proportion of vaccinated cases is higher than what is observed at the national level (25% of male cases of mpox declared between October and February 2023 in France concerned vaccinated men).”
According to the investigation, there would have been no evening or event at risk which could explain the appearance of this cluster. Note that no case required hospitalization.