To date, there have been over 300 confirmed cases of monkeypox in Switzerland. The organization Dialogai calls for a targeted vaccination campaign. The federal government is currently evaluating the procurement of vaccines.
There is not yet a concrete timetable for when a vaccine will be approved in Switzerland.
The French-speaking Swiss organization Dialogai calls on the federal government to react quickly to stop the spread of monkeypox. The homosexual organization pointed out in a statement that the cases were steadily increasing. Therefore, vaccines and medicines against monkeypox, which have been shown to be effective in other countries, should be approved immediately. There are currently more than 300 laboratory-confirmed cases in Switzerland.
According to Dialogai, a targeted vaccination campaign must be started urgently. Everyone can be infected with monkeypox, the organization reminded, but some populations are at greater risk, including men who have sex with men and sex workers.
The Dialogai health center is confronted with new cases of monkeypox every day, said the responsible nurse Loïc Michaud in Geneva. Even if the infectious disease is considered harmless due to the low mortality rate, it can cause severe pain that sometimes requires hospitalization.
WHO: international emergency
Two weeks ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak in more than 60 countries an “emergency of international concern”. The WHO thus declared the highest alert level that it can impose in the event of a health threat. This has no practical consequences. Because the governments themselves decide on measures in their countries.
According to the WHO, there have been 18,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox worldwide since May, around 70 percent of which occurred in Europe and 25 percent in the Americas. Previously, the infections were mainly limited to six African countries. So far, two people have died of monkeypox in Europe, and eight deaths have been registered worldwide since May.
Meanwhile, the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) is examining centralized procurement of a vaccine against monkeypox. Vaccines are approved by Swissmedic. However, the drug authority does not take action itself, but only at the request of manufacturers. However, Swissmedic has not yet received an application for authorisation.
With 304 laboratory-confirmed cases on Wednesday, monkeypox has not yet reached epidemic levels in Switzerland. There is also no threat of a pandemic with monkeypox, as with AIDS. According to infectiologists, monkeypox is not transmitted if the infected person does not have smallpox blisters or pustules. And when the pustules have healed, the sufferers are immune.
No schedule yet
In Switzerland, however, the infectious disease is notifiable and the infections have been monitored by the BAG since May 21. The EU Commission has already approved the vaccine Imvanex against monkeypox, which was originally produced against human smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980.
The Danish-German Imvanex manufacturer Bavarian Nordic is only willing to supply its monkeypox vaccine to states and in larger quantities. For this reason, the federal government is examining central procurement. There is not yet a specific timetable for when a vaccine will be approved and available in Switzerland, as the BAG announced on request.