Almost 200 cases of monkeypox confirmed in Spain as first 200 vaccines arrive

As the first 200 vaccines arrive, the Spanish Ministry of Health has confirmed almost 200 cases of monkeypox.

Spain’s Ministry of Health confirmed on Monday, June 6, that there are now 198 positive cases of monkeypox in the country. This is an increase from the 156 reported last Friday, June 3.

To date, the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid has reportedly received another 402 samples belonging to suspected cases. In relation, 204 suspected infections have also been eliminated, according to larazon.es.

As reported by the Health Department, after reviewing some suspected samples, the negatives are placed as 204 for human smallpox, and others for orthopoxvirus, so they are discarded as cases.

The protocol of the Ministry of Health classifies cases between probable and suspected depending on whether the patient meets clinical and epidemiological criteria – probable cases – or if he only presents clinical criteria, which is considered a suspected case.

Spain has already received the first 200 units of Imvanex, the third-generation vaccine that it has acquired to try to control the monkeypox outbreak. Now the health authorities will have to determine, if necessary, how and to whom to administer it.

Sources from the Ministry of Health have informed EFE that tomorrow, Tuesday, June 7, the Public Health Commission plans to address a proposal for vaccination against monkeypox. It hopes to finalise a strategy this week.

According to the Ministry of Health, the Community of Madrid is the region that has accumulated the vast majority of cases, with 183 confirmed positives as of Monday. That is 32 more than Saturday, while 40 are pending the results of laboratory tests, and 113 have been ruled out.

In its latest epidemiological situation report released last weekend, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that monkeypox cases linked to the current outbreak in non-endemic countries currently amount to 780, 88 per cent of them diagnosed in Europe.

It has raised the level of risk from ‘low’ to ‘moderate’, given that “it is the first time that many cases and clusters of monkeypox have been reported simultaneously in non-endemic and endemic countries from widely disparate geographic areas”.

Hans Kluge, the director of the WHO’s European office, acknowledged earlier last week that “it is currently unclear whether the outbreak can be contained”.

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