Monkeypox outbreak can be eliminated in Europe, WHO says
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[August 30, 2022]
LONDON (Reuters) -It is possible to
eliminate the monkeypox outbreak in Europe, World Health Organization
officials said on Tuesday, highlighting evidence that case counts are
slowing in a handful of countries.
There are encouraging signs of a sustained week-on-week decline in the
onset of cases in many European countries, including France, Germany,
Portugal, Spain and Britain, as well as a slowdown in some parts of the
United States, despite scarce vaccine supplies.
"We believe we can eliminate sustained human-to-human transmission of
monkeypox in the (European) region," said WHO Regional Director for
Europe Hans Kluge. "To move towards elimination...we need to urgently
step up our efforts."
The rollout of Bavarian Nordic's monkeypox vaccine has been affected by
limited supply of the shot, which is also approved to prevent smallpox,
although regulators are taking steps to stretch out existing stocks.
U.S., European Union and British regulators have backed changing the way
the vaccine is administered by injecting a smaller amount of the shot
intradermally, which increases by fivefold the doses that can be used
from one vial.
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![](../images/083022PIX/health19.jpg)
A man enters a vaccination center to
receive a dose of the Monkeypox vaccine in Nice, France, July 27,
2022. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/Files
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/30/images/ads/current/2022%20Business%20Directory%20Cover%20lda%202022.png) In addition to the vaccine supply
crunch, given the time it takes to deploy the vaccine and for it to
take effect, the significant factors behind the slowdown appear to
be earlier detection, which leads to patients isolating themselves
sooner, and behavioural changes, Catherine Smallwood, senior
emergency officer and monkeypox incident manager at WHO/Europe told
a briefing.
"We do have some pretty good anecdotal evidence that people -
particularly men who have sex with men who are in particular risk
groups - are much more informed about the disease."
More than 47,600 confirmed cases in 90 countries where monkeypox is
not endemic have been reported since early May. The WHO has declared
the outbreak a global health emergency.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover in London; Editing by Robert Birsel and
Bernadette Baum)
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