According to the RKI, there are currently 16 cases of monkeypox in Germany. And Germany has now ordered about 40,000 doses of a smallpox vaccine. Clemens Wendtner, chief physician for infectiology at the Munich Clinic Schwabing, where the first German monkeypox patient is being treated, explains why we are probably not facing a new pandemic and for whom vaccination could make sense.
“It’s not dangerous for the patient,” says Wendtner. The man was isolated as an inpatient and had a mild course. The chief physician also sees no risk for the general population. A major difference to Corona is that “monkeypox viruses, according to everything we know, are not transmitted via aerosols.” It takes close physical contact with an infected person to become infected. Vaccination could make sense for risk groups – but not for everyone.
More news: Online returns will be subject to a fee, G7 want to strengthen climate protection.
To subscribe to our news podcast:
“To the point” is the news podcast of Süddeutsche Zeitung on the most important topics of the day. The podcast appears Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. You can find all the episodes on sz.de/nachrichtenpodcast. Don’t miss an episode and subscribe to our audio offering on your favorite podcast app or at iTunes, Spotify, deezer, AudioNow. You can find an overview of all our podcasts under www.sz.de/podcast and here you can find out how you can listen to our podcasts.
You have any questions or suggestions? Then write to us: [email protected].