Spaniards who served in the army are more protected from monkeypox
In 2022, after overcoming the worst pandemic in history caused by Covid-19, Europe again stepped up its health alerts due to an outbreak of monkeypox. In August this year, the circulation MPox and the resurgence of the virus in Africa has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare smallpox, known as monkeypox, a public health emergency of international concern.
The vast majority of cases registered in Spain in 2022 were men who supported sexual relations with other men, but it is not a sexually transmitted disease or a disease that only affects a certain group. In fact, as experts explain, this new variant of the monkeypox pathogen is more contagious, especially affecting children. But why are Spanish men over 45 less likely to become infected?
The answer was provided by a group of international researchers in a study published in the European Journal of Infectious Diseases. Eurosupervision and dates back to smallpox vaccination and the reinforcement offered to young men after completing their compulsory military service, known as “miles”.
The study says that after smallpox was eradicated 45 years ago, routine vaccination ceased, leaving an increasing proportion of the European population susceptible to monkeypox virus (MPXV) and other orthopoxviruses.
Vaccination in Spain
The experts explain in the article that “in a European context, more than two-thirds of men who were vaccinated against smallpox as children are likely to retain some protection against clade II smallpox,” adding: “However, the degree of protection varied widely across the four countries we studied – Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Spain – likely due to differences in smallpox vaccination schedules.”
Summary of smallpox vaccination programmes in control populations in Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Spain, 1900–1984.
In Spain, the smallpox vaccination campaign began in 1900, with all children receiving a dose of the virus at 20 months, followed by a booster dose at school age. Likewise, men received another booster dose at the start of their military service. In Spain, the vaccine was removed from the vaccination schedule in 1979, when the disease was confirmed to have been eradicated.
How Monkeypox Spreads
Although it is possible to become infected through the respiratory route, most cases generally indicate contact with fluids. This means that it is easier to become infected through direct contact with wounds, body fluids, droplets, and contaminated materials, such as bedding or towels, of an infected person. The incubation period is usually between 6 and 13 days, although in some cases symptoms may appear after three weeks.
Not only is this virus transmitted from person to person, an infected animal can also transmit the disease to a person through bites or scratches, or when a person eats contaminated game meat, products such as the hides or skins of infected animals, or simply when you come into direct contact with the bodily fluids or rashes of animals with monkeypox.
At-risk groups can be vaccinated to prevent monkeypox.