The European Commission announced on Wednesday the purchase of an additional 170,920 doses of the monkeypox virus vaccine from the Danish laboratory Bavarian Nordic, which will be available to member states by the end of this year.
In a statement, the community executive indicates that this acquisition brings to 334,540 the doses of vaccines purchased directly by the European Union (EU) to distribute among the Member States, and points out that “during the coming weeks and months” it will continue to distribute vaccines already purchased to countries of the European bloc, as well as to Norway and Iceland.
“Although we have seen a decrease in monkeypox cases in the EU over the last few weeks, the threat has not passed and we cannot lower our guard. We must continue to maintain the pace of our efforts to protect our citizens, especially those most vulnerable”, commented the European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides.
In addition to the vaccines purchased and distributed by the European Union, through HERA, the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, several Member States have also purchased vaccine doses directly from laboratories.
According to the European Commission, from the beginning of the outbreak to September 1, around 18,463 cases of monkeypox were reported in 29 countries of the EU and the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).
Also on September 1, in the previous weekly update on the evolution of the disease in the country, the General Directorate of Health (DGS) announced that the number of confirmed cases of monkeypox virus infection in Portugal amounted to 871, 25 more than the previous month total registered in the previous week.
“All regions of mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Region of Madeira reported cases, of which 625 (78.5%) in the Lisbon and Vale do Tejo health region,” said the DGS, according to which the recent average of cases new confirmed cases of Monkeypox virus infection “corroborates the observed slowdown in reporting and, by proxy, in infection transmission.”
On July 16, the first close contacts were vaccinated and, as of Wednesday, 388 people had already been vaccinated, said the department led by Graça Freitas, highlighting the eligible contacts in the different regions of the country.
From January 1 to August 30, 47,751 confirmed cases and 302 probable cases of human infection with VMPX virus were reported to the World Health Organization in 101 countries, with 15 deaths recorded.
The most common symptoms of Monkeypox infection, or monkey pox, are fever, severe headache, muscle pain, back pain, tiredness, enlarged lymph nodes with the progressive appearance of rashes that affect the skin and mucous membranes.
A person who is sick ceases to be contagious only after complete healing and scabbing of skin lesions, a period that can eventually exceed four weeks.
The monkeypox virus is transmitted by close physical contact, that is, with injuries or bodily fluids, or by contact with contaminated material, such as sheets, towels, or personal utensils.
Source: TSF
