Friday 20 May 2022 11:04 AM Gay men could be targeted with monkeypox vaccine as experts fear infected are ... trends now
Gay men could be offered monkeypox vaccines in a focused rollout, MailOnline has learned.
Experts said the strategy could be deployed if cases continue to disproportionally be in homosexual and bisexual males.
Six of Britain's nine confirmed cases are men who have sex with men, which officials say is 'highly suggestive of spread in sexual networks'.
Britain's cases are expected to double today, with health chiefs expected to confirm nine more, it was claimed today.
MailOnline yesterday revealed that health chiefs were stockpiling jabs amid growing fears about the tropical virus's spread. Ministers were already sitting on 5,000 doses but have now ordered an extra 20,000.
Close contacts of the UK's known cases are already being offered the jab, which was originally designed for smallpox. The two rash-causing viruses are very similar.
Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, said he 'could see a role' for a targeted jab rollout 'if this isn't brought under control quickly'.
A health source told MailOnline 'there would be a number of strategies we'd look at' if cases continued to rise.
Nine Britons have been diagnosed with monkeypox and all but one of them appear to have contracted it in the UK. The original UK patient had brought the virus back from Nigeria, where the disease is widespread. At least three patients are receiving care at specialist NHS units in London and Newcastle
Ten countries — including the US, Spain and Italy — have now detected monkeypox, in the first global outbreak of its kind
Ten countries — including the US, Spain and Italy — have now detected monkeypox, in the first global outbreak of its kind.
Australia last night confirmed two cases, including one man in his thirties who had travelled from Britain to Melbourne with symptoms earlier this week.
The outbreak has been described as 'unusual' by experts because person-to-person transmission of monkeypox was thought to be extremely rare.
Before May, the UK had only ever seen seven cases of the virus, which is endemic in West Africa.
It is usually spread through handling infected animals, either through their lesions, blood, bodily fluids or eating poorly cooked meat.
But it was known that it could be passed on between humans through close contact with the likes of body fluids, respiratory droplets and lesions.
This is why experts think the virus is passing through skin-to-skin contact sex, even though this has never been seen until now.
A similar pattern is emerging in Europe. Seven gay or bisexual men tested positive in Spain.
Authorities are now probing gay bars, clubs and spas visited by British cases as they scramble to contain the outbreak.
The UKHSA has also issued a direct plea to gay and bisexual men to be vigilant for new rashes on their face or genitals.
MailOnline this week revealed close contacts of monkeypox cases, including NHS workers, are already being offered the Imvanex smallpox vaccine.
The strategy is known as ring vaccination, involves jabbing and monitoring those around an infected person to form a buffer of immune people to limit the spread of a disease.
A spokesman for the UKHSA did not disclose how many have been vaccinated, but said: 'Those who have required the vaccine have been offered it.'
Professor Geoffrey Smith, from the University of Cambridge,