According to the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), adults who have had close contact with someone infected with monkeypox or have an increased risk of infection should in future receive a vaccine against monkeypox. This was announced by Stiko on Thursday. The draft decision of the recommendation now has to go through a so-called commenting procedure with the federal states and the specialist groups involved, so it is not yet a final recommendation.
The number of reported monkeypox cases in previously unaffected countries has risen to more than 1,000 since May. That said the Director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. For Germany, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported 113 infections by Wednesday.
According to the WHO, it is not clear whether an infection – unlike smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980 – provides lifelong immunity. There are known cases in Africa in which people have been infected again after recovery, said monkeypox expert Rosamund Lewis. In the meantime, individual infections have been reported in women, but the majority affect men who have sex with men. It is important that those affected isolate themselves if they show signs of symptoms and also avoid contact with family members. The virus is usually transmitted through physical contact.
The WHO is currently checking how much vaccine against smallpox is available worldwide. Countries would have always had supplies to arm themselves against a possible new outbreak. Because it is the same family of viruses, this vaccine is also effective against monkeypox, according to the WHO. The organization assumes that there is enough vaccine to contain the current outbreaks. But more vaccine is needed if the number of cases increases sharply, said WHO expert Sylvie Briand. The WHO is in talks with vaccine manufacturers about capacities.