Since the start of the current monkeypox outbreak, Montreal has had the unenviable status of being the epicenter of the virus outbreak in America. So far, 126 cases have been identified in the metropolitan area.
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“It’s not increasing rapidly, but it continues to have an increase. Every day, we always have a few more cases. There are certainly cases that have not yet been seen, since it can be a fairly insidious disease that does not show too many symptoms, ”explained Dr. Luc Boileau, acting national director of public health, on Tuesday.
So far, three people have been hospitalized since the virus outbreak. All three have since been discharged from hospital.
“It’s a disease that is not pleasant to have, even if it resolves for the most part in a complete recovery, it does not change that it is serious and that it lasts a long time”, argued the Boileau Dr.
All recorded cases have been in men, with the vast majority having had sex with other men.
“Currently, what we see is that it takes intimate, close, skin-to-skin contact. It requires sustained and significant contact to be able to be transmitted, ”explained Dr. Mylène Drouin, regional director of public health (DRSP) for Montreal.
In anticipation of the summer season, Public Health will expand the people who can benefit from the monkeypox vaccination. It was previously given only under recommendation.
“We are in a campaign that aims to find people who are at risk, who have possibly been exposed to the virus recently, or who could be exposed to it in the coming weeks,” explained Dr. Boileau.
With this in mind, he invites men who plan to travel to the metropolis to have homosexual relations there to be vaccinated as a preventive measure. This, while the festival season will promote tourism and close exchanges