Following a decree published in the “Official Journal” on Saturday July 30, monkeypox detection tests will be 100% covered by Health Insurance.
- The first center dedicated to the vaccine against monkeypox opened this Tuesday, July 26 in Paris.
- In 48 hours, more than 11,000 people were vaccinated against monkeypox in France, including more than 8,000 in Île-de-France.
Good news for people at risk. While at the start of the week, the High Authority for Health (HAS) had recommended that monkeypox screening tests be reimbursed at 100%, the government decided to follow its recommendation.
Saturday July 30, a decree published in the Official newspaper indicates that from now on, Health Insurance will fully cover them.
Screening reserved for suspected cases with symptoms
“The development of the monkeypox epidemic implies being able to confirm cases of infection in the absence of a sufficiently explicit clinical picture”, explains the text. Also, nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) (a technique that includes PCR testing) “allow to confirm infections”. “It is therefore appropriate that these screening tests be covered by Health Insurance”specifies the decree.
As the HAS indicated in its reimbursement recommendation, the diagnosis of monkeypox is based primarily on the examination and questioning of the patient. “Detection by NAAT test should only be carried out in the event of persistent doubt after the clinical examination” in order to “confirm or not” the infection.
These tests are therefore reserved for “suspect cases” and to “possible cases” and are not recommended if there are no symptoms.
3 new deaths worldwide in 48 hours
This decision to reimburse screening tests comes as the epidemic has just experienced a turning point in Europe. Within 48 hours, Spain reported the death of two patients affected by the disease. “Of the 3,750 patients (…), 120 were hospitalized and two died”said the health alert and emergency coordination center of the Spanish Ministry of Health.
On Friday July 29, Brazilian authorities also announced that a 41-year-old man with monkeypox had died the day before. “Hospital follow-up for other serious clinical conditions”he suffered from significant immunity problems.
Other deaths to be expected according to the WHO
In total, eight monkeypox-related deaths, including two outside Africa, have been recorded worldwide. And according to the World Health Organization (WHO), more deaths are expected in the coming weeks.
“Given the continued spread of monkeypox in Europe, we expect more deaths”Catherine Smallwood, an emergency manager at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, said in a statement.
Catherine Smallwood added that the goal was “to quickly interrupt the transmission of the virus in Europe and put a stop to this disease”. This primarily involves prevention through vaccination, even if for the time being, vaccines are reserved for populations at risk.
“The reporting of monkeypox-related deaths does not change our assessment of the epidemic in Europe. We know that, although self-limiting in most cases, monkeypox can lead to serious complications”concluded Catherine Smallwood.
