Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach announced on the sidelines of the German Doctors’ Day that he would take decisive action against the spread of monkeypox. In the early phases of an endemic reaction, he emphasized, it was necessary to react quickly and decisively. The core component of the recommendations that the Ministry of Health has now developed with the Robert Koch Institute is a recommended isolation of 21 days for infected people. However, the end of the symptoms is decisive for the end of the isolation. There should also be an urgent recommendation for direct contacts to also go into isolation for 21 days.
“In addition, we want to expand protection for the population if the infection spreads,” announced Lauterbach. In addition, after confirmed cases, there should be ring vaccinations, i.e. vaccinations in the environment of the infected person. Up to 40,000 doses of the vaccine Imvanex, which would be approved for combating monkeypox in Germany, have already been ordered.
In people who are already infected, the vaccine can partially prevent or at least delay the onset of the disease. It is not yet clear whether the vaccine has to be used. Whether the vaccine can be used for children is currently being discussed with the Robert Koch Institute and the Paul Ehrlich Institute. “I think we still have a very good chance of stopping this pathogen,” said Lauterbach. This not only applies to Germany, but also to Europe. “We will not allow the infections to be carried over here.”
According to the Minister of Health, there is no reason to panic. “What we are witnessing with monkeypox is not the beginning of a new pandemic,” he said. There have always been outbreaks of these diseases in the past, and they could have been contained well through targeted contact tracing. However, not taking monkeypox seriously is also wrong. “So far we don’t know why the outbreaks are behaving so differently internationally than before.” It is possible, for example, that the pathogen or the susceptibility of people have changed. It is important to contain the outbreaks early in order to avoid an endemic event. So you have to react quickly.
There are currently 177 known cases in 16 countries worldwide
During the joint press conference, Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute, said that despite everything, further monkeypox infections were expected in Germany. Eight cases of infection and illness are currently confirmed in Germany – three of them in Berlin, three in Cologne, one in Munich and one in Baden-Württemberg. Samples from other people are checked and contact persons are identified. According to Wieler, 177 cases in 16 countries were known worldwide as of Tuesday afternoon.
The virus usually only causes mild symptoms such as fever, headache and muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes and skin rash. However, monkeypox can also have severe courses, in individual cases fatal diseases are possible. The pathogen is mainly transmitted via direct contact or contact with contaminated materials. Monkeypox occurs mainly in west and central Africa and very rarely elsewhere, making the current outbreaks unusual.
According to Wieler, the majority of the currently infected patients were not traveling to the otherwise affected areas in Africa before their illness broke out. Most of those affected are men who have become infected through unprotected sex with other men. Like Lauterbach before him, Wieler points out that this information should not be understood as stigmatization. As Lauterbach previously emphasized, it is all about communicating transparently and addressing the most affected risk group as specifically as possible. Anyone can get infected through close contact – children, adolescents and adults, regardless of gender.
Wieler emphasized that the monkeypox virus is related to the human smallpox virus, but they are not the same. Cross-immunity is given after vaccination against the human smallpox virus. According to Lauterbach, anyone who has received the compulsory vaccination that was mandatory in Germany until the late 1970s is very likely still immune. However, the protection decreases the further back the vaccination was, explains Wieler.