The smallpox vaccine diluent in a syringe next to a Dryvax® smallpox vaccine vial. Source: CDC, PHIL # 2676 / James Gathany, Public Domain
People in the Montreal area at high risk for smallpox will get the smallpox vaccine, Quebec health officials said Thursday.
According to CBC Canada, the province has 25 confirmed cases of smallpox, all connected to the Montreal region. An additional 25 to 30 cases are being investigated.
“We don’t expect a large, rapid number of cases,” said Dr. Luc Boileau, Quebec’s director of public health. “That’s why we believe it can be eradicated.” Boileau described the outbreak as serious, but said the disease did not spread to the population as COVID-19 did.
The Montreal Gazette explains that the smallpox vaccine will not be available to everyone. Vaccination requires a recommendation from the public health agency, starting with people who have had contact with those who have confirmed cases of smallpox.
Dr. Boileau said the “vast majority” of cases so far are adult men who have had sex with men. Vaccinations were due to begin so early Friday, according to Global News, Boileau said the federal government has provided the supplies, which arrived earlier this week.
Dr. Sébastien Poulin, an infectious disease specialist at Saint-Jérôme Hospital near Montreal, said that during the past outbreaks of smallpox in Central and West Africa, patients had flu-like symptoms. before developing a rash.
Some cases reported during the current outbreak in the Montreal area and in the United Kingdom have involved flu-like symptoms along with painful injuries to the penis, anus or mouth, while other patients have had few symptoms, he said.
A single dose of the vaccine will be provided within four days of exposure to the virus. The Quebec Ministry of Health said in a statement that a second dose could be administered, but only if the risk of exposure is “still present 28 days later” and “only after a decision by the public health authorities.” .