Quebec will begin vaccinating some people with a smallpox vaccine to combat the spread of smallpox in the Montreal area.
Quebec Public Health Director Dr. Luc Boileau said Thursday that 25 cases of smallpox in the province have now been confirmed. Fourteen of them are in the city of Montreal, although all cases are related to the large area of Montreal.
Some 20 to 30 more cases are also under investigation, Boileau said.
Boileau stressed that the spread of smallpox was “a serious situation”, but said it was not sweeping the population like COVID-19, for example.
“We don’t expect a fast and large number of cases,” he explained. “That’s why we believe it can be eradicated.”
To that end, Boileau said the smallpox vaccine, which has not been offered in Canada for decades, will be offered to those at high risk of contracting the disease, such as those who have been in contact with cases. confirmed.
Boileau said the province has access to hundreds of ready-made doses, but vaccination will only come after a public health recommendation. It will not be open to the general public.
Dr. Caroline Quach, chair of the Quebec Immunization Committee, said vaccination within four days of contact had a “very good” chance of preventing the disease.
The goal will be to vaccinate target people in those four days, but vaccination can be offered up to 14 days later, he said.
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Currently, the “vast majority” of cases are adult men who have had sex with men, Boileau said. There is one case involving a minor, specified Boileau, who has been going to school since the exhibition.
But the virus needs close, prolonged contact to spread, Quach said, “so it’s not like an entire classroom is suddenly affected,” as it would with more communicable diseases like coronavirus.
Boileau specified that the government “is not in a situation of community alert” regarding the smallpox of the monkey.
Dr. Geneviève Bergeron, a Montreal medical officer in charge of health emergencies and infectious diseases, added that contact tracking and isolation are also being used to prevent the spread.