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Date Published: 26/05/2022

ARCHIVED - Spanish government rules out smallpox vaccine for under 40s

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

20 cases of monkeypox have now been confirmed in Spain

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Spanish government rules out smallpox vaccine for under 40s

Government spokesperson Isabel Rodriguez has for the moment ruled out vaccinating people under the age of 40 against smallpox as a means of controlling the monkeypox outbreak, which has already affected 16 countries around the world.

To date, Spain has confirmed 20 cases of monkeypox, the majority of which are believed to have stemmed from a sauna in Madrid and a huge pride festival in Gran Canaria, while a further 16 positives are pending definitive sequencing results.

“Right now we are not in that phase,” Ms Rodriquez said about the possibility of vaccinations, even though a report from the ECDC warned that if the virus is not controlled, it could become endemic to Europe.

The latest fear is that the rash-causing virus will spread more widely if human to animal transmission occurs, as monkeypox cases have previously been found in wild rats and squirrels in west and central Africa. However, most of the experts agree that cats and dogs, the most common household pets in Spain, are unlikely carriers of the disease.

Meanwhile, Spain’s Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, has reassured that the chances of the general population contracting monkeypox are very low, especially considering that the alert procedures were activated nationally with “absolute speed.”

The government has learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms Rodriguez explained, the country’s emergency mechanisms have been fine-tuned and “are working.”

However, in just a week, the number of confirmed monkeypox cases in Spain has risen from 7 to 20 and the first suspected infection has been reported in Alicante.

The Community of Madrid has registered the highest number, with 36 positive cases and 40 more awaiting the results of laboratory testing.

Faced with this situation, the Madrid health officials have asked the Ministry for greater speed in the approval of the protocol on monkeypox, as well as in the purchase of vaccines.

The evolution of the incidence of monkeypox in Spain, which has already spread to nine autonomous communities, will be analysed by the Alerts Committee of the Centre for the Coordination of Alerts and Health Emergencies (CCAES) on Thursday May 26.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

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