Monkeypox: 17 cases grouped in Center-Val-de-Loire.

18 additional cases of monkeypox since 24 January. As of March 23, 2023, the French Public Health Service (SPF) counted 5,000 cases of infection with the mpox virus, the scientific name for a serious form of smallpox. In its latest update, the SPF is reporting a cluster that has been identified in the Center-Val-de-Loire.

In particular, from January 1 to March 23, 17 cases were confirmed in the region. These are, without knowing their identity, men aged 24 to 56 years. All of them confirmed the presence of homosexual sexual intercourse, the agency said in its status report. Public Health France has not yet identified any public or private venues or events.

Six of the 17 cases observed with SPF were in males not vaccinated against monkeypox. The other man does not have a full vaccination schedule. The remaining ten people have been vaccinated. Considering the number of people vaccinated in this cluster (59% versus 25% at the regional level), more research is needed. The investigation is carried out by the Public Health of France and the Regional Center for Pharmacovigilance of Tours.

In the rest of the territory, out of 5000 confirmed cases, 4144 (83%) were biologically confirmed and 856 (17%) probable or possible cases were not biologically confirmed.