The monkey pox epidemic, which has been spreading around the world since the spring, is clearly calming down in France and elsewhere. For a week, less than a hundred cases have been reported in the country, according to a point published Thursday evening by the public health agency France, while this weekly figure was around 500 at the start of the summer.
More broadly, last week “the number of monkeypox cases reported in Europe and the Americas declined, contributing to a global downward trend since August,” the World Health Organization (WHO) summarized. in a report given on Wednesday. The presence of the disease is unusual in these regions of the world, as monkeypox has also been observed for several decades in about ten African countries.
Expansion of vaccination
And even if monkeypox is losing ground in France, the government has decided to expand the possibility of vaccination against this disease in pharmacies. Currently, vaccination against monkeypox mainly takes place in dedicated centres, for example in hospitals, and only five pharmacies can take part in it within the framework of a limited experiment.
According to the Directorate General of Health, for the time being, 25 French pharmacies have been designated to carry out the vaccination. Among the original five, some are part of it but others have abandoned the experiment.
The profile of patients
Since the start of the monkey pox epidemic in France, 3,970 cases of autochthonous infections have been identified. Most were recorded in Ile-de-France (2,423), Occitanie (312) or Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (269). 261 cases have been confirmed in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpe, 94 in the Grand Est and 29 in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
“The vast majority of confirmed adult cases identified to date are male,” notes Public Health France in its point. Very few children (10) were infected. The median age of adult cases is 36 years.
According to a decree published in the Official Journal on Friday, vaccination against monkeypox will now be possible “in community pharmacies designated by the director general of the regional health agency”.
In case of questions or symptoms, contact “Monkeypox info service” on 0 801 90 80 69 (free call and services every day from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., anonymous and confidential).