Monkeypox cases in UK crosses 1000-mark; Europe accounts for 86% of infections worldwide

Amid the growing Monkeypox outbreak across Europe, the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) released the most recent statistics on Tuesday, showing that there are now 1,076 confirmed cases of monkeypox in Britain. As of June 26, there were 1,076 laboratory-confirmed instances in the nation, as per UKHSA. 1,035 of them were reported in England, 27 were in Scotland, 5 in Wales, and 9 in Northern Ireland, Xinhua reported. There have been 1,310 additional instances reported since the last World Health Organization (WHO) update on June 17 from eight new nations. 

Further, the WHO documented 3,413 laboratory-confirmed infections and one death as of June 22 since January 1 from 50 nations and territories across five WHO regions, according to its most recent update, which was released on Monday. 2,933 of the 3,413 instances with laboratory confirmation, as per WHO, are in the European region. This makes up around 86% of the entire number. 

This indicates that nearly a third of all cases worldwide that have been recorded since the current outbreak began have been found in Britain, Xinhua reported. 

Sophia Makki, the UKHSA incident director, noted, “The monkeypox outbreak in the UK continues to grow, with over a thousand cases now confirmed nationwide,” Xinhua reported. She also added, “We expect cases to continue to rise further in the coming days and weeks.” 

In order to prevent spreading the virus, Makki recommended those attending summer festivals or engaging in sexual activity with new partners be aware of any monkeypox indications and be tested right away. 

European Medicines Agency will evaluate the smallpox vaccine

Apart from this, European Medicines Agency said that it would start evaluating information to see if a smallpox vaccine produced by the pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic may also be approved for the use against Monkeypox. 

The vaccine, marketed as Jynneos in the United States but known as Imvanex in Europe, has previously been approved for the usage against monkeypox by American regulators, according to a statement released on Tuesday by the EU medicines authority. According to an Associated Press report, the vaccine in Europe is only approved for the prevention of smallpox, which is similar to monkeypox. 

Meanwhile, WHO stated that although the expanding Monkeypox outbreak in close to 50 nations requires close observation, a global health emergency cannot be proclaimed. A WHO emergency committee noted that monkeypox, which is common in several African nations, has been ignored for years in a statement released on Saturday, calling many characteristics of the epidemic "unusual", Associated Press reported.  

WHO said in a statement, “While a few members expressed differing views, the committee resolved by consensus to advise the WHO director-general that at this stage the outbreak should be determined to not constitute”. Despite this, WHO emphasised the "emergency nature" of the outbreak and stated that containing its growth calls for an "intense" response. 

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