According to the RKI, monkeypox infections are reported in nine federal states, and at least 80 cases are confirmed. However, the number is likely to be higher - new figures from Berlin indicate this. The vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic is now reporting increasing demand.
According to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), monkeypox has now been confirmed and reported in 80 people in Germany. The institute speaks on its website of evidence from nine federal states. Since the Friday before Pentecost, the number of diseases recorded by the RKI has increased by 15. However, the number is now likely to be higher than that reported by the RKI, since the Berlin health administration, for example, reported new, significantly higher numbers in the afternoon.
This showed 72 reported cases today. Of these, 13 patients were admitted to a hospital. Last Friday, 48 people were registered in the capital. After the first evidence in this country, a report by the Federal Ministry of Health stated that party events in Berlin where sexual acts took place are also considered places where people were exposed to the virus. "Since the infection is likely to occur via contact with the mucous membranes, close physical/sexual contact with different people or strangers should be avoided as far as possible," advises the Berlin health administration. Safer sex rules such as the use of condoms should be observed.
The RKI continues: "As far as is known, most of those affected do not become seriously ill." According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the disease has now been detected in around 30 countries where the virus does not otherwise circulate. There are several hundred cases. With cases rising, biotech company Bavarian Nordic expects more supply orders for its smallpox vaccine, Imvanex. Interest in the vaccine from governments around the world is "overwhelming," Chief Financial Officer Henrik Juuel told investors.
The vaccine, which is highly coveted because of its improved safety compared to other vaccines, would be delivered immediately or in the coming weeks and months. It is becoming apparent that several contracts could be converted into longer-term ones. The federal government has also ordered the vaccine from Bavarian Nordic. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach had said around 40,000 vaccine doses could be delivered in June, with another 200,000 later in the year. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is in talks with Bavarian Nordic about expanding the approval of the smallpox vaccine to include monkeypox. In the US, the vaccine is already approved for smallpox and monkeypox.
Meanwhile, the first person diagnosed with monkeypox in Germany has recovered, according to a hospital report. The 26-year-old Brazilian was released from treatment symptom-free after around two weeks of treatment, the Munich Clinic announced. A second patient had already been released into domestic isolation the previous week. Both patients suffered from a mild course of the disease with the characteristic skin changes such as pustules and smallpox. Other people with the virus infection are currently not being treated in the Munich clinic.
Monkeypox is considered a less serious disease compared to smallpox, which has been eradicated since 1980. According to the RKI, the pathogen is usually transmitted from person to person through close physical contact. Experts assume that the outbreak can be contained. The risk to the general public is still considered to be low. Symptoms (including fever and skin rash, for example) usually go away on their own within a few weeks, but can lead to medical complications and, in very rare cases, death in some people.
