Dusseldorf, Munich, Berlin After the first cases of monkeypox detected in Germany in Munich and Berlin, experts expect further infections. However, a large wave of infection is not to be expected in this country. Both the doctors treating the patient in Munich and the authorities in Berlin assume this. Meanwhile, other countries are reporting the first evidence of infection, such as Israel and Switzerland.
On Saturday, the Senate Department for Health in Berlin reported two cases of the rare infection in the capital. It is not yet known which of the two known variants of the virus infected those affected. A corresponding genetic analysis is in progress. The condition of the patients is stable, it said.
The first case of monkeypox in Munich had already become known on Friday. The 26-year-old man is from Brazil and suffers from the West African virus, the milder of the two known virus variants. According to his doctor, he is doing well. The man had traveled from Portugal to Munich via Spain and had previously stayed in Düsseldorf and Frankfurt am Main.
According to the State Ministry of Health in North Rhine-Westphalia, there are indications “of possible contact between people and the monkeypox virus”. A spokesman for the ministry said on Saturday that these tips would be followed up. The State Center for Health is in close contact with the Standing Working Group of the Competence and Treatment Centers for Diseases Caused by Highly Pathogenic Pathogens (STAKOB) at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
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“I am convinced that there will be more cases in Germany overall,” said Clemens Wendtner, chief physician of the infectiology clinic at the Schwabing hospital on request. There, the Munich patient is housed in a single room with an upstream lock. According to Wendtner, the clinic is one of seven STAKOB centers in Germany.
“The general assumption is that West African monkeypox has an overall mortality rate of 1 percent, which primarily affects children under the age of 16,” Wendtner said. “But you have to remember that these data from Africa cannot necessarily be transferred to the healthcare system in Europe or the USA, where mortality would be lower. This is a disease that, in my opinion, does not have the potential to pose a massive threat to the population.” Infected patients are contagious for around three to four weeks.
Vaccination for people with weak immune systems?
Caution should be exercised in immunosuppressed patient groups, i.e. those with weak immune systems. “This includes, for example, HIV patients without adequate drug disease control, but also, for example, tumor patients with severe immunosuppression, for example after stem cell therapy,” said Wendtner. It is being discussed whether these risk groups can be protected with a vaccination. The vaccine Imvanex has been approved in the EU since 2013.
Lauterbach is optimistic about containing monkeypox
“We assume that the older generation, which was vaccinated against classic smallpox before 1980, also has a very high level of protection against monkeypox. These people are at very little or no risk.” With the drug Tecovirimat, there is also one therapy option for monkeypox disease approved in the EU.
Meanwhile, the number of countries reporting evidence of the rare infectious disease is increasing. The canton of Bern announced on Saturday that a first case had been detected in Switzerland. According to the Ministry of Health, a test in Israel was also positive. Cases have also been confirmed in Australia, Canada and the USA in the past few days – and thus in other regions of the world outside of Africa, from where the virus originates.
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Most of the cases currently being investigated are mild, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said on Friday. The recently detected infections are atypical because most of those affected have not traveled to West or Central Africa, where the disease is endemic, Kluges said in the statement.
It is also striking that most of the infections initially discovered were found in homosexual men. The fact that the cases are found across Europe suggests that the virus has been passed on for a while.
According to health authorities, the virus usually causes only mild symptoms, but can also have severe courses. In individual cases, fatal diseases are possible. The virus is mainly transmitted via direct contact or contact with contaminated materials.
More: First case of monkeypox in Germany: what is known about symptoms, transmission and other cases