The Health Ministry has concluded that the risk of monkeypox infection in Spain is low, even if imported cases of smallpox arrive.
The Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES) says the measures, which began to be introduced in 2022, “will help limit transmission of the virus in our country.”
He Ministry of Health came to the conclusion that risk of transmission from MPox In Spain it is short and that even if cases of the variant circulating in Africa are found, which he considers highly likely, the likelihood of sustained transmission of the disease and its worsening will also be low.
This is how he puts it in “Rapid risk assessment of mpox clade I virus spread in selected African countries” which was just released by the Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergency Services (CCAES), which states that measures which began to be introduced in 2022″will help limit the transmission of infection in our country“.
The coordinating centre reached this conclusion after assessing the available data on this first outbreak caused by variant or clade II and on the epidemic caused by clade I in various African countries.
They have been detected in Spain since 2022. 8111 cases of MPOCthe vast majority (92.7%) in the first year of the outbreak and nearly three-quarters among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSH).
This yearuntil August 19th in total 267 cases, of which 249 were men and 5 women aged 6 to 68 years, with an average age of 37 years. 62.2% of those infected were aged 30 to 49 years, and 52% of those infected were born in Spain.
The alert center acknowledges that “there are currently still lacking knowledge on many epidemiological aspects, transmission routes, morbidity and mortality are associated with infections caused by different mpox clades and subclades, and that “there is uncertainty” due to insufficient data provided by Africa regarding case detection and notification, as well as its laboratory capacity.
The outbreak may also be affected by “ongoing conflicts and humanitarian challenges in certain areas” of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and countries in the region, which “hamper control measures, increasing the risk of spread and subsequent introduction of imported cases into currently unaffected countries.”
There have been no direct flights from affected countries to Spain this year and “few stops by ships from risk areas,” and although there are ‘significant’ number of Spaniards travelling to KenyaThe number of those who did this to Congo, the worst hit, is “very low.”
probability of infection Travelers to the affected areas will have variable“depending on the profile of the trip and whether there will be prolonged and close contact with sick people during your stay”, which will have to be assessed at the International Vaccination Centers, “where appropriate recommendations will be given”, including vaccination.
With everything, and although there is a possibility cases of imported cases of mpox group I detected in Spain, the current strategy “will help limit transmission“.
And when they arrive, ” gravity diseases would be low in most cases,” although complications can occur in people with weakened immune systems and in people with untreated HIV infection.
“The risk to the general population in Spain is therefore considered low, with a very low probability of transmission and low impact,” provided that cases are “rapidly diagnosed and control measures are taken.”
This will also be fundamental continue characterization of outbreak dynamics to improve knowledge and identify possible changes in the behaviour of the virus or in the profile of the population at higher risk in order to adapt recommendations to the best evidence available at any time.
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