Diseases
Doctors: monkeypox for Oktoberfest no increased risk
Here we go again: the Oktoberfest will start soon in Munich. Monkeypox should be less of a concern for Wiesn visitors than an infection with the corona virus. photo
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
Corona – and now also the monkeypox. Some are now looking at the Oktoberfest with concern. What do doctors say?
Munich is gearing up for the first Oktoberfest after two cancellations due to Corona – and right now a new disease is spreading worldwide: The outbreak of monkeypox has now been classified by the World Health Organization as an emergency of international concern. The disease is transmitted through close physical contact – and in the confines of the Wiesn tents you quickly get closer. Nevertheless, doctors see no reason to panic.
“An Oktoberfest visitor who doesn’t seek and has sexual contact there won’t have to be afraid of monkeypox,” says physician Johannes Bogner, head of the Clinical Infectious Diseases Section at the LMU Clinic at the University of Munich.
The experts say that it is much more likely to be infected with a respiratory disease at the Oktoberfest – a cold, influenza or corona.
“With regard to monkeypox, the risk of transmission at the Wiesn is rather low because very close physical contact, especially to infected skin lesions, is required for infection,” says infectiologist Christoph Spinner from the Technical University of Munich. “Although an infection cannot be ruled out in principle, it seems rather theoretical to me at the moment. The vast majority of all infections currently occur after sexual transmission.”
According to studies, 95 percent of those infected are infected through sexual activity. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), more than 3,000 people were reported for the first time in Germany a few days ago, most of them men who have sexual contact with other men.
The typical skin lesions in particular contain high virus concentrations. Infections are probably also possible through saliva, large droplets and semen. Unlike the corona virus, the pathogen is not transmitted by aerosols when breathing or coughing. There are vaccines, but they are scarce in many countries. Effective drugs are also approved, but are hardly available at the moment.