If a “plateau” of new infections of monkeypox seems to have settled in Montreal, the Public Health of the metropolis still wants to maximize the number of vaccines administered in order to avoid having a possible “outbreak of cases” in the coming weeks, as is already the case elsewhere.
Posted at 12:36 p.m.
“In recent weeks, if we look at the epidemiological curve in Montreal, we see that there is a plateau that has been settling for several weeks, which is still encouraging,” said Thursday the regional director of public health. of Montreal, the DD Mylène Drouin, at a press briefing.
However, she warned that we must be “humble and cautious in the face of this plateau”, especially during the summer season and “when we know that elsewhere, in New York in particular and in Ontario, it is not at all the same curve. Several jurisdictions are indeed dealing with an “outbreak of cases” of monkeypox currently, argued the DD Drouin. “My message today is really to get the vaccination. »
In Montreal, there are currently 299 confirmed cases of monkeypox and six hospitalizations, the majority detected in men who identify with the gay, bisexual, transsexual or non-binary communities. So far, 13,250 people have been vaccinated. Public Health aims to vaccinate 25,000.
“At the moment, as there is not an indefinite quantity of vaccines, the strategy is really to vaccinate the greatest number of people with one dose,” said M.me Drouin, arguing that the effectiveness of a protective dose has been demonstrated. “We are talking about an outbreak control strategy. We want to give a dose to a greater number, ”she said.
However, second doses of the monkeypox vaccine are already offered to immunosuppressed people who are part of the target clienteles.
Calls for solidarity
On site Thursday, Simon Gamache, general manager of the Montreal Pride festival – which will be held from 1er to August 7 –, praised the “proactivity” of Public Health which, according to him, allows “to envisage a Pride which will go well, even if vigilance remains in order”.
“We have a community that hasn’t been together for Pride since 2019. It’s been a long time. And this need to be together is really visceral at the moment, we can feel it. The festival makes it possible to break the isolation of marginalized people, thus avoiding other public health problems,” he said.
The director of the RÉZO community organization, Alexandre Dumont-Blais, echoed the story, saying that his group will have a monkeypox intervention booth on the main festival site. “Of course, we want to celebrate without smallpox,” he said.
“We must continue the vaccination. Even if we can cure smallpox, some people can go through very difficult times, in the middle of summer, with two years of confinement,” insisted Mr. Dumont-Blais, recalling that the symptoms of the disease can be “apparent and painful”, and cause prolonged isolation for several weeks.
Vaccination appointments can be made on the Clic Santé platform, or via the Santé Montréal website. A mobile clinic will also be available on Sainte-Catherine Street, and on the Esplanade of the Montréal Pride site.
“Safe” sex practices
On Wednesday, Canadian Public Health called for reducing the risk of simian pox infection by adopting “safe sex practices”, or by reducing the number of partners.
“We recommend adopting safe sex practices. Decreasing the number of sexual partners, especially anonymous partners, even if they don’t have symptoms, can also reduce your risk of infection,” said Chief Public Health Officer Dr.D Theresa Tam.
So far, more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been detected worldwide since the beginning of May outside endemic areas in Africa. The disease has been reported in 78 countries so far. 70% of cases are concentrated in Europe and 25% in the Americas, said the boss of the WHO.
In Canada, approximately 745 cases of monkeypox have so far been reported, and 99% of infections have occurred in men. In Quebec, there were 346 cases of monkeypox as of Tuesday.
With The Canadian Press and Agence France-Presse