Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - The chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), Thomas Mertens, assumes that a large number of monkeypox infections have already occurred in Germany. The virologist told Südwestrundfunk on Monday that he assumed that a number of people in Germany had already been infected through close contacts. And that more cases will be identified in the near future.
At the same time, the Stiko chairman emphasized that monkeypox is less dangerous than the corona virus: "I don't think any expert assumes that you will experience a similar situation with this virus as with Corona." About 30 to 40 percent of the population had previously been vaccinated against smallpox. And it is known that this vaccine protection is also effective against this monkeypox virus.
The transmission path for monkeypox is also much more limited than for corona viruses, which are very easily transmitted through the air. The transmission path for monkeypox requires much closer contact between the infected and the infected, explained the virologist.
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