Monkey pox: in Occitania, “we are raising awareness among emergency doctors and doctors, we must consult if we have a fever and spots”

En cas de fièvre et d’éruption cutanée, il faut consulter un professionnel de santé. MAXPPP – Patrick Lefevre

Alain Makinson, infectious disease specialist at Montpellier University Hospital and president of Corevih, the coordination committee for the fight against sexually transmitted infections and HIV in Occitanie, calls for vigilance among emergency physicians and general practitioners, already on the front line in 2022.

Infectiologist at the Montpellier University Hospital, Alain Makinson, president of Corevih Occitanie (Coordination Committee for the Fight against Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV), did not wait for the alert from the resigning Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who on August 16 placed the French health system on “maximum alert” the threat of monkeypox.

“We organize things, we raise awareness among emergency doctors and doctors, and you have to consult if you have a fever and buttons" indicates the infectious disease specialist.

He recalls that health professionals had already faced the 2022 epidemic, which affected 4,272 people in France. "We had about fifty cases at the Montpellier University Hospital, some were serious and especially very painful, requiring the use of morphine, but we had no deaths", the doctor emphasizes. No deaths in France either.

Telephone consultations were then preferred to avoid any contact, to avoid any risk of contagion: “We were cautious, there was no panic. We put on a gown, gloves, and an FFP2 mask to ensure the samples were taken”, the doctor remembers. The diagnosis is given by a molecular biology analysis.

At the end of the Covid epidemic, it was not necessary to open dedicated units.

“There will be cases”

For him, the arrival of a new, more dangerous variant does not radically change the situation: “It's been several days since Dr. Boulle contacted the emergency services, we're alerting them. We will organize webinars for general practitioners, and we work with associations", specifies the doctor, aware that the risk of transmission is nevertheless very present : "There will be cases".

Without risk, according to him, of an epidemic of the magnitude of Covid : "With Covid, when we knew we were contagious two days before the first symptoms, we understood that we were "done". For Mpox, we are not in this configuration, but we remain contagious for fifteen days after the appearance of the spots”.

The context is also very different from that of Africa: “Excess mortality is 4% to 5% with this new variant, but there, only serious cases are diagnosed”.

He recalls that the vaccine “very well tolerated”, had been an effective weapon two years ago. That a treatment, “only offered in’hospital", is also available. And “we have weapons that we perhaps didn't have”.

In 2022, “vaccinating at full speed has helped to curb” the progression of cases.

Mpox is transmitted through the skin, as soon as spots appear. “Many transmissions are linked to sexuality”, underlines Alain Makinson.