Monkey pox | WHO raises its highest level of alert

(Geneva) The World Health Organization (WHO) issued its highest level of alert on Saturday in an attempt to contain the outbreak of monkeypox, which has affected nearly 17,000 people in 74 countries, announced its director. general.

“I have decided to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern for the monkeypox rash,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing, noting that the risk worldwide was relatively high. moderate except in Europe where it is high.

The D^r Tedros explained that the committee of experts had failed to reach a consensus, remaining divided on the need to trigger the highest level of alert. In the end, it is up to the general manager to decide.

“It’s a call to action, but it’s not the first,” said Mike Ryan, WHO’s emergency manager, who said he hoped it would lead to collective action against disease.

Since early May, when it was detected outside African countries where it is endemic, the disease has struck more than 16,836 people in 74 countries, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dashboard. ) as of July 22. Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted disease but, outside endemic areas, it affects men who have sex with men with rare exceptions.

If the health authorities have reported a drop in the rate of contagion, the number of cases is increasing rapidly.

The qualification “public health emergency of international concern (USPPI)” is used in situations that are “serious, sudden, unusual or unexpected”. It is defined by the WHO as an “extraordinary event” whose spread constitutes a “risk to public health in other States” and may require “coordinated international action”.

It’s only the 7^e time the WHO uses this level of alert.

During a first meeting on June 23, the majority of the experts of the Emergency Committee had recommended to D^r Tedros not to pronounce the urgency of USPPI.

Risk of stigma

Detected in early May, the unusual upsurge in cases of monkeypox, outside the countries of central and western Africa where the virus is endemic, has since spread throughout the world, with Europe as its epicenter.

First detected in humans in 1970, monkeypox is less dangerous and contagious than its cousin human smallpox, eradicated in 1980.

In most cases, the patients are men who have sex with men, relatively young, and living mainly in cities, according to the WHO.

A study published Thursday in the scientific journal New England Journal of Medicine, the largest carried out on the subject and based on data from 16 different countries, confirms that in the vast majority – 95% – of recent cases, the disease was transmitted during sexual contact and 98% of those affected were gay or bisexual men.

“This mode of transmission represents both an opportunity to implement targeted public health interventions, and a challenge, because in some countries, affected communities face discrimination that threatens their lives,” noted Thursday the D^r Tedros in front of the committee of experts.

“There is a real concern that men who have sex with men could be stigmatized or blamed for the spike in cases, making it much harder to trace and stop,” he warned.

Vaccinate

On Friday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it had approved the use of a human smallpox vaccine to expand its use against the spread of monkeypox. This vaccine is in fact already used for this purpose in several countries, including France.

The Imvanex vaccine, from Danish company Bavarian Nordic, has been approved in the EU since 2013 for the prevention of smallpox.

The WHO recommends vaccinating those most at risk as well as health workers likely to be confronted with the disease.

In New York, thousands of people have already been vaccinated with the Jynneos vaccine.