To reduce the risk of monkeypox infection – a situation requiring an “immediate global response” – Canadian Public Health recommends “adopting safe sex practices”, or even reducing the number of partners.
Posted yesterday at 6:15 p.m.
“To reduce the overall risk of infection with and transmission of monkeypox virus, we recommend practicing safe sex practices. Reducing the number of sexual partners, especially anonymous partners, even if they don’t have symptoms, can also reduce your risk of infection,” Chief Public Health Officer Dr.D Theresa Tam.
She added that “our understanding of this virus continues to evolve”, but “this situation requires an immediate global response”.
Earlier last weekend, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern over the monkeypox virus.
To date, more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been detected worldwide since early May outside of endemic areas in Africa. The disease has been reported in 78 countries so far and 70% of cases are concentrated in Europe and 25% in the Americas, said the boss of the WHO.
Here 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. The Regional Director of Public Health in Montreal, the DD Mylène Drouin must also take stock of the situation this Thursday.
At a press briefing in Geneva on Wednesday, WHO Director General Dr.r Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had argued that the best way to protect yourself against this virus “is to reduce the risk of being exposed” to the disease. “For men who have sex with men, this also means, for the moment, reducing the number of your sexual partners and exchanging information with any new partner to be able to contact them” in the event of the appearance of symptoms, so they can isolate themselves, explained the Dr Tedros.
According to the DD Tam, the virus mainly circulates among men who have sex with other men. While anyone can theoretically be infected, she believes targeted measures for gay and bisexual men are needed to “identify barriers to vaccination and care in high-risk communities.”
With The Canadian Press and Agence France-Presse
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- 70,000
- Ottawa has already distributed more than 70,000 doses of this vaccine to provinces and territories. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends that people who are at high risk of having come into contact with a confirmed or probable case of monkeypox get a dose of smallpox vaccine.
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