51 confirmed cases in France

France had 51 “confirmed” cases of infection with the monkeypox virus on Friday, according to Public Health France (SPF). Of this total, established at 2 p.m., 37 cases were reported in Ile-de-France, 6 in Occitanie, 4 in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, 2 in Normandy, 1 in Hauts-de-France and 1 in Center- Loire valley.

A new updated report will be published on Tuesday. The previous reported 33 confirmed cases on Wednesday.

Vaccination recommended for contact cases

Public Health France specifies that of the cases confirmed on June 2 – 45 in number -, 43 were the subject of an investigation (one refused this investigation and another could not be reached). “All the cases investigated are men, aged between 22 and 63,” says SPF. “Two are immunocompromised, one was hospitalized but is no longer so; none died”.
Among the cases investigated, “22 traveled abroad before the onset of their symptoms, some of them in several different countries”, adds SPF. But most say they cannot identify the person who infected them.

Monkeypox is usually a mild disease, but its spread outside endemic areas such as West Africa remains a concern. The Minister of Health, Brigitte Bourguignon, had indicated last week that the authorities did not expect an “outbreak” of the disease, and that the country had sufficient stocks of vaccines for people with contact cases.

Faced with cases of monkeypox, the High Authority for Health recommended on May 24 the vaccination of adults, including health professionals, who have had risky contact with a patient.

France is not the only country to deal with this disease: on Friday, 21 cases in the United States were recorded, 77 in Canada, with a “worrying” situation in Quebec. In total, there are more than 700 cases worldwide.

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