A new global health emergency. TheWorld Health Organization he declared, once again, the “monkeypox” Mpox apublic health emergency of international concern (the so-called acronym Pheic). What is the situation in Italy? The Ministry of Health has issued a note on the matter. Only one company currently holds the vaccine and its stock immediately skyrocketed on the stock exchange.
Monkeypox new health emergency
On August 14, WHO declared the Mpox “monkeypox” outbreak a public health emergency of international concern for the second time in two years, after declaring the end of the previous emergency that began on July 23, 2022, on May 11, 2023.
As explained by the Italian National Institute of Health, the virus is present in animals, especially primates and small rodents, in several countries in Central and West Africa. The virus was detected for the first time in humans in 1970, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, there have been some cases in humans transmitted mainly through the contact with infected animals, always in Congo and Africa.
Then in 2022, a rapid spread of the virus globally, in previously untouched countries, with person-to-person transmission, predominantly through sexual meansa public health emergency of international concern was also declared in that case, which then ended in May 2023.
The situation in Africa and Europe
The WHO’s decision to declare a new emergency for monkeypox came at the end of a long meeting of the emergency committee called to analyze the risks associated with the epidemic that began in recent months from Democratic Republic of Congo. The cause is in fact the surge in cases registered in the African country this year – over 15,600 cases and 537 deaths – and in the spread of the epidemic to a growing number of countries on the Black Continent.
The virus has also arrived in Europe: on August 15th, the day of Ferragosto, the Sweden announced the first contagion imported outside Africa of the most dangerous variant, Clade I.
Today, contagion is almost exclusively sexual between people, but it can also occur through contact with infected material from skin lesions or with contaminated objects such as sheets and clothes, or with prolonged face-to-face contact, through the droplets of our breath (the droplets that we have learned to know with Covid, which has returned to spread forcefully precisely in these summer weeks).
After a incubation period which can vary from 5 to 21 daysthe disease is generally characterized by fever, severe headache, swollen lymph nodes, back pain, severe weakness. Usually arash It appears within 1-3 days of the onset of fever, first on the face, and then spreading to other parts of the body, especially the extremities, such as the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said it was very likely that more imported cases of Mpox would occur and recommended that European countries strengthen their preparedness against an outbreak of the virus.
The situation in Italy
As for our country, at the moment the situation does not seem to worry the health authorities, even if the attention is maximum. Last January there were 10 cases.
“There epidemiological situation in Italy at the moment it is under controlso long as no cases have been confirmed of the new Clade I strain of Mpox,” said Mara Campitiello, head of the Department of Prevention of the Ministry of Health. “Our offices are in constant contact with international organizations, to develop shared measures.”
The Ministry of Health – he explains – has activated operational channels with Aifa-International Medicines Agency and Iss-Istituto Superiore di Sanità for the planning of risk containment strategies, in case the scenario changes. The Ministry is also proceeding with the Strengthening the surveillance network diagnostics throughout the country.
Furthermore – concludes Campitiello – it is evaluating an inter-ministerial table in concert with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Economy and Finance, Interior and Transport to agree on operational plans to combat the spread of the virus “with an organized strategic approach”.
What We Know About the Monkeypox Vaccine
Regarding vaccines, There is only one vaccine currently against monkeypox, produced by the Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordicwhich has been shown to be highly effective after 1 or 2 vaccinations and to reduce the severity of the disease.
Through partnerships with many governments and organizations, such as Hera-European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, and Paho-Pan American Health Organization, Bavarian Nordic has supplied more than 15 million vaccine doses to more than 76 countries worldwide in 2022/23 alone.
Just yesterday, the company provided an update on its plans to secure vaccine supplies to address the current smallpox outbreak in Africa. The company is working closely with all stakeholders “to ensure equitable access to the vaccine,” explains the pharmaceutical giant, which clarifies that it has built “a strong partnership” with the Africa CDC, both in terms of supply and to expand the manufacturing network directly in Africa.
It is also working with WHO on a regulatory pathway to ensure access for all countries, while seeking approval for use in adolescents and conducting clinical trials in Africa to further expand use to children.
In Europe, the ECDC recommends that travellers who are going to countries such as Congo and other areas where monkeypox is present consult their doctor or international vaccination centres for advice on what to do.
The ISS specifies that, at this stage, “Vaccination is not recommended for the general population“. At the moment, vaccination is offered to some categories of people who are more at risk. Furthermore, it is possible that the people who have been vaccinated against smallpox – vaccination abolished in Italy in 1981 – are in lower risk of infection with monkeypox virus due to the similarity of the latter to the human smallpox virus.
There Italy’s vaccine supply is currently sufficient to ensure the need and the Ministry is working to prepare a new information circular for the Regions with indications for the population and operators involved in the border sites.
