Health – Hanover – 42 cases of monkeypox in Lower Saxony – Health
Hanover/Verden (dpa/lni) – So far, 42 people in Lower Saxony have been infected with monkeypox. The most recent case was in the Verden district, said a spokesman for the state health office on Tuesday in Hanover. There are no pronounced hotspots in Lower Saxony; the cases are distributed relatively evenly across the country. Most of the cases were therefore transmitted with 13 infected people in the most populous region of Hanover.
So far, the infected people in Lower Saxony have only been men, said the spokesman. “There are no women in Lower Saxony, but there are in other federal states.” No children or young people are among those affected. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), a four-year-old girl from Pforzheim in Baden-Württemberg has now also been infected with the viral disease. Only last week did the RKI become aware of the first infections among young people aged 15 and 17. The average age of those infected in Lower Saxony is still 39 years, said the spokesman for the state health department.
Lower Saxony measured a few cases of monkeypox based on the population, it said. According to the RKI, around two and a half months after the first monkeypox detection in Germany, a total of 2916 cases were reported by Monday.
In June, Lower Saxony received 1,200 individual doses of the monkeypox vaccine from the federal government. So far, the vaccinators in Lower Saxony have carried out around 300 vaccinations, said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health. “This shows that the vaccinations are well received, but that we currently have a sufficient number of doses available”.
According to the RKI, monkeypox is a rare viral disease. According to the transmitted state of knowledge, they are mainly transmitted from person to person through close physical contact. According to WHO information, the vast majority of those affected are men up to the age of 65 who have sex with men. In general, however, anyone who has physical contact with an infected person can become infected.
In contrast to human smallpox (variola), which has been eradicated since 1980, monkeypox is usually much milder. Most people recover from within a few weeks, although some sufferers can experience severe disease.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220809-99-325534/2