An increase in cases of monkeypox (or smallpox) was expected in Catalonia and the rest of Spain this summer. The experience of previous years shows that this sexually transmitted infection (STI), which in our environment mainly (but not exclusively) affects men who have sex with men, tends to spread after summer festivals attended by thousands of people from all over the world. Thus, in July, hospitals, such as the Hospital de la Mar, reactivated a specific consultation on vaccination against smallpox and the proactive search for people at risk (those infected with other sexually transmitted diseases and those who have unprotected sex) who are not registered for vaccination or who have passed the virus.
But the current situation in Africa (the continent has recorded more than 15,000 cases and 461 deaths) and the WHO’s declaration on Wednesday – for the second time since 2022 – of an international health emergency, have led to an increase in the number of cases. Alerts in Europe, although the picture here is completely different from the African continent. “We reactivated the investigation because I personally thought we would see a case again. But we did not expect this large scale in Africa. This is a bit of a warning point because it can easily jump,” explains Robert Gorrie, head of the infectious diseases department at the Hospital del Mar.
Spain has recorded a total of 8,104 confirmed cases of smallpox since the start of the outbreak in 2022, making it the European country most affected, followed by France (4,272) and the United Kingdom (3,866). Health. The majority of cases are concentrated in Madrid and Catalonia, with 2,770 and 2,452 respectively. Since 2022, cases have not stopped appearing in Spain, especially in Catalonia, although they are “isolated”. For example: the Hospital Clínic, a reference in the field of infectious diseases, has detected around 23 cases since November. The situation is now “low endemic”, compared to the epidemic experienced in 2022.
For example, the clinic’s STD unit and others like CheckPoint have continued to offer the vaccine to all at-risk people they have come into contact with. Doctors are reminding men who have sex with men of the importance of double vaccination. In Catalonia, the two-dose vaccination rate is 50% among this group, according to José Luis Blanco, coordinator of the clinic’s STD unit.
This protection, as well as that of all those who have already passed the infection, puts Catalonia in a very different situation than it was two years ago. But what happened in the summer of 2022, when a monkeypox epidemic saturated the centers specializing in sexually transmitted diseases, like the one in Drassanes, is still in everyone’s imagination. That summer, smallpox occupied between 40% and 50% of Drassanes’ urgent care. Is something like this likely to happen again? “It is possible that we will see new cases clearly, but with the vaccination campaign and the number of people who were infected then, the situation is not the same,” explains Guerri.
The new breed
However, doctors are concerned about the new strain recently discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo, ground zero for mopox. “The type of smallpox we have here is type 2, which is mainly transmitted sexually in certain communities and has a low lethality: 0.2%. But it has been a year since reliable, albeit incomplete, data were obtained from the DRC. This subtype 1b, of type 1, has a mortality rate of 3%,” explains epidemiologist Anthony Trilla, head of the preventive medicine department at the Hospital Clinic.
Related News
Sweden yesterday detected the first case outside Africa of this new strain, which has spread to 11 countries around the Democratic Republic of Congo, prompting the World Health Organization to declare an international emergency. The world’s top health body will send teams and vaccines to Africa to try to contain the epidemic at its source. But that does not guarantee that the new type of Impox virus will not reach Catalonia. “Through a chain of infections, we could end up with a type 1 case,” adds Trilla.
He points to his second fear: “We believe, but we don’t know yet, that the vaccine works. One of the things the WHO wants to do is vaccinate in Africa and see if the vaccines work with this new strain.”
“Infuriatingly humble social media buff. Twitter advocate. Writer. Internet nerd.”
