By UK faces ‘significant rise’ in Monkeypox cases as infections rise across Europe
The UK is facing a “significant rise” in monkeypox cases over the next week as new infections were reported in mainland Europe.
A total of 120 confirmed or suspected cases have been reported globally – including 20 in the UK.
Switzerland recorded its first confirmed case on Saturday after an infected person developed a fever and a rash and felt unwell, authorities said.
Officials in the Netherlands said on Saturday that “several patients” had contracted monkeypox, a day after the country recorded its first case.
In the US, it was confirmed a patient in New York City had contracted monkeypox after the state of Massachusetts confirmed its first case earlier this week.
It comes after Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, and Canada all reported infections in the past week, mostly in young men who hadn’t previously travelled to Africa.
Some UK health clinics are now stopping people walking in as they try to slow the spread of infections.
David Heymann, an infectious disease specialist at the World Health Organisation, said he believed the pox had entered the population as a “sexual form”.
“What seems to be happening now is that it has got into the population as a sexual form, as a genital form, and is being spread as are sexually transmitted infections, which has amplified its transmission around the world,” he said.
The president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) told Sky News that some clinic staff have received the smallpox vaccine, which can be effective against monkeypox, and talks are taking place about giving doses to “potential risk groups”.
Dr Claire Dewsnap said: “Our response is really critical here.
“There is going to be more diagnoses over the next week. How many is hard to say.
“What worries me the most is there are infections across Europe, so this has already spread.
“It’s already circulating in the general population. Getting on top of all those people’s contacts is a massive job.
“It could be really significant numbers over the next two or three weeks.”
Dr Dewsnap said she expected more monkeypox cases to be identified around the UK.
“I’m definitely expecting a significant rise over this next week,” she added.
