Victoria’s CHO Issues Health Alert After Two Local Mpox Cases
Image: Prick - Pause - Play: Emen8’s latest national campaign raises awareness of monkeypox in Australia.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer has issued an alert after two new locally acquired cases of Mpox were reported in the state last week.
The two new mpox cases are the first recorded since November 2022 in the state.
“Two new MPOX (monkeypox) cases have been reported in Victoria this week. If you are eligible, please make sure you are fully vaccinated. This means two doses of vaccine. If you have symptoms, seek medical care and get tested,” Chief Health Officer Dr Clare Looker posted on social media.
“While the current outbreak has predominantly impacted men who have sex with men, anyone who has been in close and usually prolonged intimate contact with someone with mpox is at risk,” Victoria’s Department of Health said in a statement.
Mpox Outbreak
Since the current global outbreak of mpox cases in May 2022, Australia has reported over 140 confirmed cases, a majority of them among returned travellers. Sydney had reported two cases in May 2023 – its first since November 2022.
In July 2022, Australia declared mpox outbreak “a communicable disease incident of national significance and later that year in October rolled out the two-dose JYNNEOS vaccines for vulnerable groups.
“While MPOX cases internationally continue to spread, the risk of local transmission and transmission linked to international travel remains,” Thorne Harbour Health said in a statement.
Get Vaccinated
According to THH Vaccination JYNNEOS vaccine “is highly effective, and a person will start to build protection in the days and weeks after their first dose, but it takes two weeks for someone to reach their highest level of protection following each dose.”
Mpox is a self-limiting disease caused by the mpox virus and is spread through “skin-to-skin contact, contact with contaminated surfaces or objects, and respiratory droplets.” The symptoms include a rash, fever, chills, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat and exhaustion.
