First, monkeypox is not transmitted when the infected person does not yet show symptoms such as pustules, Vernazza explained in an interview broadcast Friday by the Neue Zuercher Zeitung. “Infected people therefore know that they are contagious”.
Second, people with monkeypox are not contagious for long, adds the infectious disease specialist. “Once the pustules have healed, the person is immune.” With HIV, the virus responsible for AIDS, the visible symptoms generally appear only years after contamination, but infected people are already contagious before, he specifies.
Isolation
Third, the monkeypox virus is not, in the current state of knowledge, transmissible by blood, notes the expert. “For transmission of the monkeypox virus, close physical contact is required. This is currently almost always done through sexual contact.”
Placing infected people in isolation keeps the disease under control, Vernazza said. “Anyone who is infected should avoid having the parts of their body covered in pustules come into contact with other people.”
The infectiologist is convinced that the monkeypox epidemic will subside again this year in Switzerland. Those most affected will learn to manage the disease and adapt their behavior, he said.
Mr. Vernazza is not in favor of large-scale vaccination of the population against monkeypox. He says he wants to see more data on the safety of the vaccine, which is not yet authorized in Switzerland. Another story from the Zurich infectious disease specialist Jan Fehr, who estimated on German radio SRF on Friday that it was time to move up a gear so that the vaccine is quickly available. “Otherwise, we risk seeing the disease spread.”
The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has so far identified 260 confirmed cases of monkeypox in Switzerland. They concern almost exclusively men who have had sex with other men. The WHO decided on Saturday to trigger the highest level of alert in an attempt to stem the outbreak of monkeypox, which has affected nearly 17,000 people in 74 countries.