Date of publication: June 21, 2022 • 30 minutes ago • 2 minutes of reading • Take part in the discussion As monkey pox is closely linked to the smallpox virus, a smallpox vaccine can prevent people from getting or getting it. make it less serious, officials say. Photo by DADO RUVIC / Reuters
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Quebec has recorded an additional 30 cases of smallpox in monkeys as vaccines against the rare virus are on the rise.
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As of Monday, 171 cases had been reported, up from 141 five days ago, the health ministry said on Tuesday. A total of 5,895 vaccine doses have been administered, an increase of 1,959 from last week. Quebec provides the Imvamune smallpox vaccine. Because monkeypox is closely linked to the virus that causes smallpox, giving a smallpox vaccine can prevent people from becoming infected or make it less serious, officials say. Last week, Montreal’s director of public health, Dr. Mylène Drouin, stated that “the development of cases every day is not dramatic. … We see some (new cases) a day. ” But with the arrival of summer and the influx of tourists to the city, officials said they wanted to bring the situation under control as soon as possible.
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Quebec has announced a vaccination campaign aimed at those most at risk of contracting monkey pox. “There is a group that is particularly affected: men who have sex with other men,” Quebec’s director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau. As of June 15, 2,103 laboratory-confirmed cases of smallpox in monkeys had been reported to the World Health Organization. The majority of cases (84 percent) were in Europe, the WHO said. But Canada had the fifth highest number of cases per country, after the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Portugal. As of last week, the vast majority of cases in Canada (84 percent) had been recorded in Quebec, the federal government said. The monkey pox is spread through close, prolonged contact, Quebec said on its official government website. The disease can be transmitted five days before the onset of symptoms and until all skin lesions have a crust. The incubation period – the time between exposure to an infectious pathogen and the onset of symptoms – is usually five to seven days, but can be up to 21 days. In most cases, the disease goes away on its own in two to four weeks, but in “very rare cases… serious complications can occur,” according to the Quebec website.
