More than forty cases of monkeypox have been registered in Germany so far. So far, no case has been recorded in Thuringia. The hospitals are still prepared.
Erfurt (dpa/th) - According to the state's Ministry of Social Affairs, the Thuringian health system is well prepared for the possible occurrence of monkeypox cases. "The hospitals are prepared for this and can treat patients in special isolation rooms," said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Social Affairs of the German Press Agency. This applies if only because, in addition to monkeypox and Covid-19, other infectious diseases could also occur in the Free State that make medical isolation of people necessary.
Dealing with such patients is therefore nothing completely unusual for hospitals, but also for other medical facilities. The spokeswoman said it was not just since the beginning of the corona pandemic that medical practices and hospitals were required to stock up on protective equipment.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Wednesday, 44 cases of monkeypox have been registered with the health authorities in a total of eight federal states nationwide. "These cases are related to other monkeypox cases that were registered in May 2022 in various countries outside of Africa," the RKI said. It is to be expected that there will be further cases in Germany. In Thuringia there has not yet been a recorded case of monkeypox.
Both the RKI and the Ministry of Social Affairs said that with all due caution when dealing with monkeypox, it cannot currently be assumed that its recent spread will lead to a new pandemic. "A monkeypox pandemic is not to be expected because human-to-human transmission is rare and only occurs through close contact - for example through sexual contact," said the ministry spokeswoman. The monkeypox pathogen is in no way comparable to the corona virus.
The importance of the diseases caused by the two pathogens for the health system is also completely different, said the spokeswoman. "Capacity bottlenecks due to the monkeypox outbreak are currently not to be expected - especially because of the small number of cases in Germany." The massive spread of the corona virus had put a massive strain on the Thuringian health system in recent months. Several patients had to be transferred from hospitals to other federal states because there were not enough hospital beds for them in Thuringia.
People who are not seriously ill with monkeypox do not necessarily have to be isolated in a hospital anyway, said the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Social Affairs. This can also happen to those affected at home if they only show mild symptoms and are able to separate from other household members for the isolation period.
