The European Commission has approved an existing smallpox vaccine for use against monkeypox after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus to be a global health emergency, the highest level of alarm, which the WHO can issue.
Monkeypox has affected 17,000 people in 74 countries. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a committee of experts had been unable to reach a consensus, so it fell to him to decide whether to trigger the highest alert possible.
“WHO’s assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region where we assess the risk as high,” he added. In the wake of the WHO warning, the European Commission on Monday extended the marketing authorisation for a Danish company’s smallpox vaccine, Imvanex, which also gives protection against monkeypox.
“The approval… is valid in all European Union Member States as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway,” according to a statement from the Danish drugmaker. Monkeypox is less dangerous and less contagious than smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980.
Imvanex has been approved in the EU since 2013 for the prevention of smallpox. The French health authority on Monday announced its support for the full social security coverage of the cost of PCR tests for monkeypox.
The national watchdog warned, however, that such tests should be carried out only after a professional medical examination, and in cases where there was a doubt about infection. Tests should be carried out only on possible or suspect cases, says the health authority. Those without symptoms do not need to be tested. Washington welcomed the WHO’s declaration as “a call to action for the world community to stop the spread of this virus.
“A coordinated, international response is essential to stop the spread of monkeypox, protect communities at greatest risk of contracting the disease, and combat the current outbreak,” said Raj Panjabi, senior director for the White House’s global health security and biodefence division. A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.
Overall, 98 percent of infected people were gay or bisexual men, and around a third were known to have visited sex-on-site venues such as sex parties or saunas within the previous month. Tedros has previously expressed concern that stigma and scapegoating could make the outbreak harder to control. The first symptoms of monkeypox are fever, headaches, muscle pain and back pain over five days. Rashes subsequently appear on the face, the palms of hands and soles of feet, followed by lesions, spots, and finally scabs.
