Date of publication: June 19, 2022 • 17 minutes ago • 2 minutes reading • Take part in the discussion ARCHIVE PHOTO: Tubes with the word “monkey pox virus positive and negative” are shown in this picture taken on May 23, 2022. Photo: DADO RUVIC / REUTERS
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Ottawa Public Health has begun distributing a limited smallpox vaccine, effective against smallpox, to those people most at risk of contracting the virus.
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The public health service said it received a “very limited supply” of the vaccine on Thursday and began distributing it over the weekend to selected people in Ottawa. In a Twitter post, the city’s public health service said the vaccine is offered to “higher priority individuals based on the latest provincial eligibility criteria.” “As supply increases, we will continue to work with community partners to extend access to anyone who qualifies,” said the Ottawa Public Health Authority (OPH). No one from the OPH was available on Sunday to describe how many people received the vaccine over the weekend. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smallpox vaccines are effective in protecting humans from monkeypox because the two viruses belong to the same family. Imvamune, a third-generation smallpox vaccine, has been approved for use in smallpox prevention in Canada since 2013 and was most recently approved for use against smallpox.
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The OPH reported a confirmed case of smallpox in the city and two suspected cases. According to Ontario Public Health, there are 30 confirmed cases of smallpox in the province, with the vast majority (26) in Toronto. All confirmed cases are men, but six women are among the 27 suspected and possible cases in the province. In Toronto, the city’s public health unit hosted two vaccination clinics over the weekend for people over the age of 18 belonging to “the gay, bisexual and other male-to-male community.” Symptoms of smallpox include fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, headache, exhaustion, and rash with lesions. The rash often appears on the face and extremities a few days after the other symptoms and can spread to other parts of the body.
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Most people recover on their own without treatment. The Ottawa AIDS Commission will host an online information session to discuss monkey pox on Wednesday afternoon with Dr. Paul MacPherson, Infectious Diseases Specialist at the Ottawa Research Hospital. A compilation of information about monkey pox outbreaks, published earlier this month by Public Health Ontario, said the first epidemiological evidence suggests that the virus can be transmitted through close human-to-human contact, including sexual contact. “The reported cases are self-identifying mainly but not exclusively in men who have sex with men (MSM) seeking care in primary care and sexual health clinics,” the health service said. Smallpox is endemic in Central and West Africa, but there have been outbreaks in other parts of the world due to international travel or the importation of infected animals.
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