Twelve new vaccination sites have opened across England to combat the spread of deadly mpox.
The move means every region in the country will be able to offer jabs to those at a higher risk of being infected.
Sites in Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Southampton are among the new locations.
Previously, vaccines were only available to eligible people at 19 sites across London, Brighton in East Sussex, and Manchester.
The NHS offers the vaccine to those deemed at higher risk of catching the virus, such as men who have sex with other men and have multiple partners.
A new strain, clade 1b mpox – which is different from the one that has been circulating at low levels in the UK since 2022, clade 2 mpox – was detected in England in October.
The clade 1b mutation, which experts have called ‘the most dangerous one so far‘ kills one in ten of those infected and is believed to be behind a wave of miscarriages in Africa, where it emerged.
An eighth case was confirmed in the UK towards the end of last month.
The unidentified patient, from London, had no links to the previous seven cases. Officials do not yet know how they became infected with the strain.
Previously, vaccines were only available to eligible people at 19 sites across London , Brighton in East Sussex, and Mancheste
Officials do not yet know how the eighth UK case became infected with the strain. But they had ‘recently’ travelled back to the UK from Uganda, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said (stock image)
The NHS offers the vaccine to those deemed at higher risk of catching the virus, such as men who have sex with other men and have multiple partners (stock image)
But the individual had ‘recently’ travelled back to the UK from Uganda, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
The patient is now being treated in the high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north London — the same facility where imported cases of Ebola were treated in 2015.
Contacts of the case will also be offered testing and vaccination where needed, officials also said.
The UK’s first mpox case was detected after the individual developed flu-like symptoms, followed by a rash and attended A&E on October 27 where they were tested.
They were then also transferred to the high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free.
In November, officials confirmed a further four patients were being treated at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with the strain.
Last month, a sixth case — which had no previous links to the other cases — was also detected in East Sussex.
They had also recently returned from Uganda and officials said they were now under specialist care at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
The clade 1b strain has swept through central Africa killing at least 1,000 people, since the outbreak began.
Countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo have been hit especially hard, with cases also spotted in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya.
However, experts say fatality rates of clade 1b from central Africa are unlikely to be replicated in developed nations like the UK due to better access to higher quality healthcare.
Symptoms of mpox include skin rash with blisters, spots or ulcers that can appear anywhere on the body, as well as fever, headache, backache and muscle aches. A rash usually appears one to five days after a fever, headache and other symptoms.
Mpox spreads through direct contact with rashes, lesions or scabs caused by the virus, including during sexual contact, kissing, cuddling or other skin-to-skin contact.
There is also a risk from contact with bodily fluids such as saliva or mucus, and contact with bedding, towels or clothing – plus there is a possibility of spread through close and prolonged face-to-face contact, such as talking, breathing, coughing or sneezing.
The latest patient is being treated in the high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London — the same facility where imported cases of Ebola were treated in 2015
Steve Russell, NHS national director for vaccination and screening, said: ‘The NHS is fully prepared to respond to mpox and the latest cases of clade 1b, with local services pulling out all the stops to vaccinate those eligible since it first became present in England, and tens of thousands in priority groups already coming forward and getting protected.
‘While the risk to the public remains low, it is important that eligible people across England are able to access mpox vaccines easily, which is why we are now offering the jabs at even more sites across the country in line with supply’.
Dr Sema Mandal, consultant epidemiologist and deputy director at the UK Health Security Agency, added: ‘It’s great to see mpox vaccination now available in every region across England, offering gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men at highest risk the opportunity for vital protection against the disease.
‘If you think you may have mpox or notice anything unusual, new lesions or a rash with blisters, seek medical advice, stay at home and avoid close contact with other people until you’ve been advised what to do. Clade 2 mpox cases remain low but have not gone away, and vaccination plays a key part in our defences.’
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
