On the same day that the European Union announces the purchase of more than 100,000 doses of monkeypox vaccines, the World Health Organization recommends giving vaccines to risky contacts and health workers or technicians for diagnosing the disease. This position is included in the provisional guidelines for the vaccination strategy published this Tuesday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes that mass vaccination, ie the entire population, is not recommended for the smallpox epidemic.monkey goddesses or VMPX). Surveillance and containment are priorities for the WHO, which also points to the need to increase contact monitoring and follow-up of confirmed cases.
This Tuesday, 1,500 confirmed cases were exceeded in countries where the disease is not endemic, and Portugal reached 231 – still the country with the most confirmed cases per million inhabitants.
As for the vaccination strategy, which Portugal has not yet presented, the WHO recommends giving doses of second or third generation vaccines to contacts with confirmed or suspected cases – up to four days after contact (or up to 14 days if symptoms persist). develop). ).
In these cases, the degree of risk also varies depending on the type of contact. The WHO emphasizes that high- or medium-risk people should be vaccinated after exposure. Medium medium contact involves proximity in the same physical space without wearing appropriate protective equipment. High-risk contact involves inhaling drops or dust from contaminated sites, direct physical contact, cohabitation, or exposure to contaminated materials (such as towels, objects, or clothing).
In the case of healthcare professionals or VMPX diagnostic laboratories, vaccination is recommended as a preventative measure for anyone who may be at risk of exposure. The WHO says that people who “may be at risk of this epidemic are medical staff and laboratory staff working with this family of viruses or diagnosing infection.”
In case of contact with a confirmed or suspected case, the priority groups for vaccination against VMPX are: children, pregnant women and people with weakened immunity. These risk groups, according to the WHO definition, have a higher risk of developing severe disease than the rest of the population. However, despite that, preventive vaccination is not recommended in these cases – only after contact with the patient.
The day after the announcement of the first case of VMPX in Portugal, the European Center for Disease Control has already recognized the possibility of vaccinating high-risk contacts, a strategy also recommended (and expanded) by the WHO. Unlike the Directorate-General for Health, national authorities in other European countries have already presented indications for VMPX vaccination, and Canada, Spain, the United States, France or the United Kingdom have already started giving doses to risky contacts and experts. health.
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