Just over two weeks ago, on July 6, 22 cases of monkey pox were detected in Norway. On Wednesday, the number doubled to 44. In the rest of the world, there has been an increase from around 6,000 to over 14,000. The first case in Norway was found on 31 May. – The epidemic is growing, and especially in Europe, says infection control officer at FHI, Helena Niemi Eide, to news. The risk of infection is high among people with many sexual partners, and especially between men who have sex with men. Most cases are found in men aged 18 to 50 years. All the Norwegian infected are men aged 20 to 69 years. 27 of the infected live in Oslo. – There is little spread outside this group so far. The risk for the rest of the population is still low, says Niemi Eide. These images show various rashes from the monkey pox virus. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP 15 are infected in Norway, 12 abroad, while 17 have an unknown place of infection. – For the time being, we have an overview of the outbreak and the infection chains, but there are constantly new infections. Testing and infection tracking are still important tools for maintaining control of the outbreak. Will get vaccines soon Norway will probably receive vaccines against monkey pox later this summer, the National Institute of Public Health informs. FHI is in the process of completing the advice on how the doses should be used. But how many doses Norway receives is still unknown. The vaccine should be given to people who have been exposed to the virus, in an attempt to stop the spread of infection. There is a shortage of the vaccine worldwide, and the EU countries have chosen to distribute the doses among themselves based on population. There are more and more positive samples of monkey cups in the world. Photo: DADO RUVIC / Reuters Niemi Eide will not say anything about the number of vaccine doses to Norway, as it may change quickly. But she thinks it will be in the same order of magnitude as Sweden. On Tuesday, the Swedish news agency TT stated that Sweden receives enough doses for about 1500 people. New assessment from WHO On Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) will again assess whether the monkey cup outbreak should be defined as a public health crisis. At the previous meeting on June 23, it was not defined as such. The WHO then pointed out that the epidemic is widespread geographically, and that the disease picture is different than before. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for an emergency meeting. Photo: AP / NTB scanpix – There is a much milder disease in this outbreak than previously described from African countries, where the disease is usually found, says Eide. Until May this year, monkey pox had never caused major known outbreaks outside of central and western Africa, where the disease has existed for decades. Monkey pox usually produces mild symptoms in the form of fever and rash, and is rarely fatal. It is a virus you can get bothersome from, with boils on your body. But it is not considered very dangerous. The WHO emphasizes that monkey pox is not a disease that the general population should be concerned about. And there is no need for mass vaccination or herd immunity campaigns. FHI assists the municipalities FHI follows the outbreak closely, both nationally and internationally, and prepares infection control councils. – We assist the municipalities with advice in the infection tracking work, and collaborate with other organizations to create information about the outbreak and how the disease is transmitted. In the United States, there have been long queues over the past month to take the monkey pox vaccine. Here from the Bushwick Education Campus in Brooklyn last Sunday. Photo: KENA BETANCUR / AFP They also work closely with environments that work with people who are exposed to infection. – This is to ensure that information reaches the environments. It is important that these environments in particular know how the disease is transmitted, what symptoms you may get, and when you should get tested, says Niemi Eide.
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– Constantly new infected – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
