Monkeypox outbreak may get 10 TIMES bigger: Scientists warn 'major' epidemic is 'highly likely' - Daily Mail

Men who have sex with men and are at a 'high risk' of catching monkeypox are set to be offered a vaccine to protect against the infection, health chiefs announced today. .

Nearly 800 cases of the virus, which is usually only spotted in Africa, have been reported in the UK. Almost all of infections so far have been spotted in the men who have sex with other men community.

In a bid to stem case numbers, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) today confirmed some gay and bisexual men would be offered the Imvanex vaccine — which is 85 per cent effective — to control the outbreak.

Until now, the jab was only offered to confirmed cases and their close contacts under a strategy called ring vaccination, which has been proven to work in other outbreaks.

In a bid to stem case numbers, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) today confirmed some gay and bisexual men would be offered the Imvanex vaccine — which is 85 per cent effective — to control the outbreak.

Until now, the jab was only offered to confirmed cases and their close contacts under a strategy called ring vaccination, which has been proven to work in other outbreaks .

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018: A second UK monkeypox case is confirmed in Blackpool.

DECEMBER 3, 2019: A patient was diagnosed with monkeypox in England, marking the fourth ever case.

MAY 7, 2022: A person was diagnosed with Monkeypox in England after recently travelling to Nigeria.

MAY 14, 2022: Two more cases were confirmed in London.

MAY 20, 2022: Eleven more cases are announced, meaning Britain's monkeypox outbreak have doubled to 20.

MAY 23-26, 2022: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland log their first ever monkeypox cases.

MAY 29, 2022: World Health Organization (WHO) says risk of monkeypox is 'moderate', citing concerns about virus infecting children and immunosuppressed people if it becomes more widespread.

The UKHSA today published a strategy which set out that some gay and bisexual men at 'higher risk' of exposure to monkeypox should be offered a vaccine to control the outbreak.

Healthcare workers caring for monkeypox patients in specialist high consequence infectious disease (HICD) wards are already offered the jab.

But now staff in other hospitals designed to care for monkeypox patients will also be offered the jab, as well as workers in laboratories that test for the virus.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at UKHSA, said: 'Our extensive contact tracing work has helped to limit the spread of the monkeypox virus, but we are continuing to see a notable proportion of cases in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. .

'By expanding the vaccine offer to those at higher risk, we hope to break chains of transmission and help contain the outbreak.

Robbie de Santos, director of communications and external affairs at LGBT charity Stonewall said it welcomed the vaccine being offered to those who are most at risk of catching the virus.

He said: 'It is important that gay and bi men get the vaccine when offered to protect themselves and others.

It comes as the UKHSA today confirmed Britain's outbreak has grown by 38 per cent since Friday to 793.

Meanwhile, scientists behind the monkeypox modelling that warned of another 10,000 cases include Professor John Edmunds, an LSHTM epidemiologist who was among the most outspoken SAGE members during the Covid outbreak

At the time of the modelling on May 31, 728 confirmed and suspected cases had been reported worldwide in more than 25 countries

The monkeypox R rate — a term made famous during the pandemic, which reflects the number of people an infected person passes the virus onto — may be 'substantially greater than one' which could make it challenging to contain the outbreak, their paper states. 

No deaths linked with the ongoing outbreak have yet been reported

Experts have warned monkeypox could become endemic among animals in Europe, as it is in parts of Nigeria, if the virus spreads to pets and wildlife. This would make animals a permanent reservoir of the virus that could infect humans, triggering sporadic outbreaks