The vaccination campaign for monkeypox starts today from Spallanzani in Rome . After the circular from the Ministry of Health, which defined the modalities and the audience of immunization, the National Institute for Infectious Diseases is leading the way in the administration of the serum. Following will be Milan but also the other two regions most affected by the infections, Veneto and Emilia Romagna, where the date for the start of the administration has not yet been set.
In the document released yesterday by the ministry it is explained that "at the moment, the mode of contagion and the speed of spread as well as the effectiveness of non-pharmacological measures exclude the need for a mass vaccination campaign".
RECIPIENTS - The vaccination in this phase will be directed to: laboratory personnel with possible direct exposure to orthopoxvirus; gay, transgender, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM), which fall into some specific risk categories.
Imvanex is the vaccine marketed in Europe. Ema recently extended the indications of use previously only for smallpox also for monkeypox.
ADMINISTRATIONS - Indicated from 18 years of age , vaccination involves two doses administered at least 4 weeks apart, precisely at 28 days one from the other.
In this first phase, after consulting the Regions and the autonomous provinces, "it was decided to divide the vaccine doses currently available among the Regions with the highest number of cases reported to date and divided as follows: Lombardy 2000; Lazio 1200; Emilia -Romagna 600; Veneto 400 ". The first tranche counts 5,300 doses. Others will arrive for a total of 16 thousand.
The circular also establishes that "pending the next tranche of donation (currently scheduled for the second half of August), a portion of doses (multiples of 20 up to 60 doses) ".
A portion of the vaccine will remain stored at the Ministry of Health for any emergencies. In anticipation of the next tranche, the criteria and the plan for distributing the doses further available will be established again, in agreement with the Regions / PA.
INCREASING TREND - To date "the vast majority of cases of monkeypox in Italy, about 550 with an increasing trend, underlines the Undersecretary of Health, Pierpaolo Sileri , concern male people in the gay community , but it would be incorrect to think that the contagion will remain confined within this population ". "The monkeypox infection is not linked to sexual orientation - he continued - but its transmission requires an important physical contact such as sexual contact". The infection started from the gay male community, he concluded, "but we must not make the mistake, made in the 1980s at the time of AIDS, of believing that the disease affects only that community. In Italy , cases have reached 505 of monkeypox . Infection continues to develop almost exclusively among males (501) compared to only 4 cases among women, according to the latest bulletin of the Ministry of Health. In Europe, 15,926 cases from 38 countries have been registered. hospitalized, two died. The European country with the most cases is Spain, with 4,577. More than 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported to WHO from 78 countries, with over 70% from the European region and the 25% from the Americas.
(Unioneonline / vl)
