“If infections become more widespread, we want to be prepared for possible prophylactic vaccinations that are not yet recommended at this time but may be necessary,” Lauterbach said, referring to the strategy of vaccinating contacts of an infected person.
He stated that the monkeypox outbreak can be contained and does not signal the start of a new pandemic, adding that early intervention can prevent the pathogen from gaining a firm foothold in communities.
Five cases have been reported in Germany so far, all of them men, said Lothar Wieler, director of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, who also spoke at the news conference.
A World Health Organization (WHO) official issued similar guidance on Monday, saying the outbreak does not require mass vaccinations because measures such as hygiene and safe sexual behavior will help control the spread.
The WHO has recorded more than 250 confirmed and suspected monkeypox infections, with an unusual geographic spread for the disease, which is endemic in parts of West and Central Africa but rare elsewhere.
Many, but not all, of the cases have been in men who have sex with men, with the WHO focusing on sexual transmission in particular.
US health officials said this week that there are more than 1,000 doses of the Bavarian Nordic vaccine in the national stockpile and that they expect that level to rise very rapidly in the coming weeks.
The vaccine is called Jynneos in the United States, where it is approved for use against smallpox and monkeypox. It is also approved for smallpox in Europe, where it is called Imvanex, but has been supplied for off-label use in response to monkeypox cases.
Source: Ambito
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