St Vincent's responds to community monkeypox risk

St Vincent's responds to community monkeypox risk

28 Oct 2022

Since early May 2022, the Monkeypox virus was reported from several countries where monkeypox had previously not been endemic, including countries within Europe and North America, and eventually in Australia. 

This is the first time that many monkeypox cases and clusters have been reported concurrently in non-endemic and endemic countries in widely disparate geographical areas.

The World Health Organization have since declared the global monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and earlier this year, Australia declared the monkeypox situation a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance.

As a health service, St Vincent’s is tackling this threat head-on, both in terms of identifying priority populations for vaccination and ensuring we have the right wrap-around supports in place, particularly in relation to psycho-social supports. 

This month, as part of NSW Health identified jurisdiction partners, the St Vincent’s monkeypox centre commenced operations, and has already vaccinated significant numbers of people.

The current vaccination strategy is targeting higher risk populations, including gay and bisexual men (cis and trans) with multiple or casual sexual partners, anyone who has sex with these men, including women (cis and trans), and non-binary people.

While the majority of cases in Australia so far have come from overseas, health officials are strongly encouraging priority populations to come forward for vaccination, with Sydney WorldPride promising to bring an influx of overseas tourism in to the St Vincent’s catchment area. 

While the monkeypox vaccine is currently limited, the vaccination strategy has taken on a technique known as ‘dose-sparing’. This method of administering via an intradermal injection, allows five times the number of doses from just a single subcutaneous injection dose, meaning that up to five people can receive the same level of immune response from a single dose administered the traditional way.

So far, skin-to-skin contact has been the predominant mode of transmission in this outbreak. Most people experience a mild illness and recover within a few weeks, but for those who need health support, St Vincent’s has developed a whole of person care to support those in need. 

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