Simian pox in the country: “We must act fast”, urges Dr. Theresa Tam

The monkeypox situation is constantly evolving and we still don’t know much at this point., says Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, during the press briefing she delivers, every Friday, in the company of Dr. Howard Njoo, the deputy chief administrator. Hence the importance of collecting as much information as possible on the ground.

The most important thing is to obtain epidemiology from local health authorities to verify the most defined epidemiological parameters.said Dr. Tam.

According to Canadian health authorities, the situation in Quebec is worried, although it is disproportionate to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, monkeypox is not as contagious as this disease.

On June 1, in Montreal, there were 26 confirmed cases and 23 possible cases of monkeypox reported.

Current watches in the metropolis

On Friday, the Montreal Regional Public Health Department (DRSP) announced in a press release that it is keeping a close eye on the outbreak of simian orthopoxvirus (simian pox) infections.

The first reported case of monkeypox in Quebec experienced symptoms on April 29. DRSP knows of three surgeries so far: two are associated with the risk of airway obstruction, and one is associated with possible eye damage.

In Montreal, the outbreak continues to disproportionately affect men who have sex with other men, the metropolitan DRSP said in its statement. Some cases with no epidemiological link to this community are being investigated.

But the call for vigilance is valid for the entire country, Drs Tam and Njoo insisted on Friday, because the risk of exposure to monkeypox is not limited to any particular group or setting.

Anyone, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, can become infected and spread the virus through close contact with other people, including intimate intercourse or contact with contaminated objects.

One thousand doses of vaccines against this virus have been shipped to Quebec. From now on, vaccines are not only offered to people belonging to risk groups: We are starting to offer the vaccine to some people who visit specific areassaid Dr. Njoo.

Public health authorities in Quebec conduct strict contact monitoring. On Friday, the Montreal DRSP updated its recommendations for health professionals who are likely to diagnose people infected with simian orthopoxvirus.

Cases reported in Montreal often show lesions:

• genitalia (50%);
• in the anal region (40%);
• chest (34%), face (30%);
• by mouth (28%);
• in the extremities (28%), including the palmar (24%) and plantar (10%) regions.

Little is known about the behavior of the monkeypox virus in countries where it is not endemic (where it is not always prevalent). This is the case in Canada where, therefore, experts are currently unable to conduct significant modeling training on the predicted prevalence of monkeypox in Canada.

But they are collecting information and are willing to do more to understand its evolution neglected tropical diseasesdescribed by Dr. Tam.

COVID: All indicators go down

In relation to COVID-19, although the number of hospitalizations in the country remains high, all indicators, whether it is the number of cases, hospitalized or severe cases, are declining. . This is also the case for the indices collected by the wastewater analysis.

Experts are also looking more deeply at cases of post-COVID syndrome, i.e., people in whom certain symptoms persist, and this, three months after the first infection. The most common symptoms are fatigue, mental problems, trouble sleeping and shortness of breath.

These long -term symptoms affect both children and adults. But more women than men seem to be affected by long-term COVID-19.

Between 30% and 40% of people who have had the disease, but do not need to be hospitalized, show symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome. This condition seems to affect women more than men.

All data relate to long -term cases of COVID associated with infections that occurred before the Omicron variant came out in November.