More than 1,450 cases of patients infected with monkeypox have been identified in France. Nearly half are in Île-de-France.
France has 1,453 confirmed cases of infection with the monkeypox virus, health authorities announced on Wednesday, specifying that this notable increase should not be interpreted as “an exceptional increase” because it includes a “catch-up of data”.
“As of July 19, 2022 at 12:00 p.m., 1,453 confirmed cases have been identified in France”, including six women and two children, indicated the Public Health France agency on its site. The previous assessment, seven days earlier, reported 912 cases.
“The increase in the number of cases since the last report published is spread over the last few weeks and should not be interpreted as an exceptional increase, although an upward trend is nevertheless observed,” she said.
expansion of vaccination
Of all the cases recorded, “678 reside in Ile-de-France, 111 in Occitanie, 103 in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, 65 in New Aquitaine, 55 in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, 41 in Hauts -de-France, 25 in Grand Est, 18 in Normandy, 15 in Pays-de-la-Loire, 9 in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, 9 in Centre-Val de Loire, 9 in Brittany and 1 in Martinique”, said detailed SPF.
Of the cases that were investigated, 78% had a genito-anal rash, 72% a rash on another part of the body, 76% a fever. In addition, 274 cases are HIV positive and 513 are on HIV PreP.
Faced with the rise in cases of monkeypox and the difficulties in tracing the chains of contamination, France announced ten days ago the extension of vaccination, now offered preventively to the most exposed groups, in particular homosexuals. and multi-partner bisexuals, as in other countries.
Faced with growing criticism of difficulties in getting an appointment, the government and health authorities assured last week that there were enough smallpox vaccines and that the doses were gradually arriving in 70 centres.
The WHO Emergency Committee will also meet on Thursday to determine ways to stem the outbreak of monkeypox, which has crossed the 10,000 mark in some 60 countries, with Europe as the epicenter.
The European Commission announced on Monday the purchase of 54,530 additional doses of the vaccine from the Danish laboratory Bavarian Nordic, worrying about an increase in cases of “nearly 50%” in the EU in a week.
