The Imvanex vaccine has been approved for use by the European Medicines Agency against monkeypox.
- The Imvanex vaccine was approved in 2013 against human smallpox in the European Union.
- In the United States, it is already given to humans against monkeypox.
It’s official: this Friday, July 22, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the use of the Imvanex vaccine against monkeypox. Specifically, this decision expands its use, as this vaccine is usually prescribed for human smallpox.
Extend the use
“The EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended expanding the indication of Imvanex smallpox vaccine to include protection of adults against monkeypox”, can we read in the communicated.
Similar viruses
Smallpox virus and monkeypox virus are similar, which is why the WEA made this decision. Nevertheless, monkeypox or simian orthopoxvirosis – other names for monkeypox – is less contagious and dangerous than human smallpox.
No case of smallpox since 1977
According to MSD Manual“no case of smallpox has been seen in the world since 1977 thanks to global vaccination. In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the discontinuation of routine smallpox vaccination”. Monkeypox, on the other hand, was first detected in a human in 1970.
Nearly 1,500 cases of monkey pox in France…
In France, according to latest update from Public Health France published on July 19there are 1,453 confirmed cases in France, including 678 people residing in Ile-de-France, 111 in Occitania, 103 in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, 65 in New Aquitaine, 55 in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, 41 in Hauts-de-France, 25 in Grand Est, 18 in Normandy, 15 in Pays-de-la-Loire, 9 in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, 9 in Centre-Val de Loire, 9 in Brittany and 1 in Martinique.
15300 worldwide
And at the global level, the situation is also worrying: more than 15,300 cases of monkeypox in 71 countries. Thus, a meeting of the WHO emergency committee took place this Thursday, July 21.
The conclusions have not yet been made public but Santiago Mas-Coma, professor of parasitology at the University of La Laguna and WHO expert, spoke in the media Telecinco : “It won’t take long to declare the pandemic”. A somewhat reassuring assertion… While France and the world are already struggling to get out of that of Covid-19.
According to latest figures availablethere are currently 82,078 new positive cases of Covid-19 every day in France.
