Monkeypox has arrived in Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is urging people to remain vigilant given the high probability of more imported cases of the disease caused by the new Clade I variant.
The new risk assessment is based on the evolution in Africa, where the epidemic, which started in 2022 in Congo (15,600 cases and 537 deaths) is spreading to more countries .
In light of this situation, the World Health Organization has declared monkeypox, or mpox, an international public health emergency.
Prevention moves on a double track, diagnosis and vaccinations . As for diagnosis, the tool is the tests. The current serological ones "do not allow for an early diagnosis, but only a confirmation of the disease in an advanced stage", observes virologist Francesco Broccolo, of the University of Salento. "The adoption of specific molecular tests for the new viral strain could significantly improve the timeliness and effectiveness of the diagnosis and treatment of monkeypox", he adds, also in light of "the current shortage of antiviral drugs and preventive and post-infectious vaccines". As for vaccines, the Ministry of Health informs that it has "activated the operational channels with Aifa and ISS for the planning of risk containment strategies in the event of a change in the current scenario" and that " the national stock of vaccines is currently sufficient to guarantee the need ".
In light of the numerous cases affecting adolescents in Africa, the Danish company Bavarian Nordic, which produces the vaccine, has asked the European Medicines Agency for authorization for use in young people aged 12 to 17. Currently, in fact, the vaccine is only approved for people over 18 years of age.
ISS RECOMMENDATIONS
The alarm is also rising in Italy, where the Istituto Superiore di Sanità has published the currently available data on symptoms, ways of contagion and prevention measures. Mpxv was first identified in monkeys in 1958 in a Danish laboratory, in humans in 1970, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Symptoms appear after an incubation period ranging from 5 to 21 days and the main ones are fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, back pain, myalgia and weakness. 1-3 days after the fever , skin rashes appear that spread from the face to other parts of the body, especially the hands and feet . The disease lasts from 2 to 4 weeks and in the most serious forms requires hospitalization. People at highest risk are children, pregnant women and people with immune system problems .
Human-to-human transmission first occurred in 2022, when the outbreak was sustained almost exclusively through sexual contact , but can also occur through contact with infected material from skin lesions, contaminated objects, or prolonged face-to-face contact .
Regarding the vaccine, the ISS notes that it is possible that those who have been vaccinated against smallpox (vaccination abolished in Italy in 1981) are at lower risk of monkeypox infection. There is also an attenuated vaccine against smallpox that is also effective against this virus. "In the current epidemiological context - notes the ISS - vaccination is not recommended for the general population" and "vaccination is currently offered to some categories of people who are more at risk . To avoid transmission of the virus, it is recommended to use a condom in the case of sexual intercourse with people whose health status is unknown, although the virus can be transmitted through direct contact with other areas of the body. It is also advisable to abstain from sexual or other contact with individuals with possible or known Mpox infection and with people with visible lesions or other symptoms compatible with Mpox. It is recommended not to share cutlery or cups with a person affected by Mpox, not to touch sheets, towels or clothes of a person affected by Mpox, to wash your hands with soap and water after each contact with a person or animal affected by Mpox».
