Urgent action is needed to prevent monkeypox from becoming endemic in the UK, experts have warned.
Monkeypox is a rare infection that’s mainly spread by wild animals in parts of west or central Africa. The risk of catching it in the UK tends to be low, however, as of Monday, June 11, the total number of cases reported by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has risen to 1,735. Out of the confirmed cases, 1,660 are in England. Modelling of the current outbreak warns cases are doubling every 15 days.
Gay men, bisexual men or men who have sex with other men, in particular, have been urged to pay extra attention to the symptoms of the virus as the UKHSA claims “the majority of the cases” identified to date have been among this group. With this in mind, organisations including the British Association of Sexual Health & HIV (BASHH), Terrence Higgins Trust, and National AIDS Trust, are asking for the targeted vaccine programme for gay and bisexual men to be looked at sooner rather than later.
READ MORE: ‘Monkeypox can be spread by anyone, not just the LGBTQIA+ community’
The organisations argued that “the current vaccination roll out is too slow with far too few being vaccinated. This is compounded by a lack of coordination between those who are responsible for its delivery and insufficient quantities of vaccine.” As well as this, the organisations are calling for £51m from the Department of Health and Social Care to “control the outbreak, optimise monkeypox care, protect the wider service delivery of sexual health services and to support people who are required to isolate because of monkeypox.”
The BASHH estimates that it will cost £62.63 to deliver two vaccine doses, with a further estimation of 125,000 people being eligible to receive the dosages 28 days apart. Richard Angell, campaigns director at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “There is a clear choice in front of us: urgently do what is needed to tackle the spread of monkeypox or continue the lacklustre response to date which will mean the virus becomes endemic in the UK with more and more people impacted.
“More vaccines are vital to this. Monkeypox is overwhelming our world-class sexual health services. Healthcare staff are doing a brilliant job on the frontline of the country’s monkeypox response, but they’re at a breaking point, having to make a painful choice between treating monkeypox and issuing PrEP or long-acting contraception and are desperately in need of additional funding to urgently turn the tide.”
Early symptoms of Monkeypox include high temperature, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen glands, shivering and exhaustion, with a rash usually appearing up to five days after the first symptoms. It can be treated with the smallpox vaccine along with antiviral drugs. Monkeypox rarely passes between people but can be passed on via close person-to-person contact or contact with items used by a person who has the virus, such as clothes, bedding or utensils.
While the latest data from the UKHSA shows gay and bisexual men make up the vast majority of monkeypox cases, the inaction risks transmission to wider groups including those more vulnerable to the infection, for example, young children, older people and those who are pregnant. The additional responsibility for testing, diagnosis and vaccinations is “coming at a time when demand for these services is already out-stripping availability.” The monkeypox response – including infection control – is said to be “unsustainable and currently being delivered without additional funding or staffing.”
Dr Claire Dewsnap, president of the BASHH, added: “Monkeypox cases are currently doubling every 15 days and we have now reached a critical point in our ability to control its spread. Already-stretched sexual health services are buckling under the additional pressures that the outbreak is placing upon them, and an increasing volume of core sexual health care is being displaced as a result. This has left us on the precipice of a fresh public health crisis, one which can only be averted with urgent, additional support.”
The group of sexual health experts sent their worries in a joint statement to Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Amanda Pritchard, CEO of NHS England, and Jenny Harries, CEO of the UK Health Security Agency, this week.
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