According to Dive/SC (Surveillance Council), Santa Catarina is due to receive 984 doses of monkeypox vaccine on Tuesday (14).

Doses of monkeypox vaccine to be shipped to the state on Tuesday (14) – Photo: Freepik/Reproduction

The country began using the immunizer this Monday (13). According to the Ministry of Health, 47,000 doses will be distributed among all states and the federal district.

Also according to the Ministry of Health, in this first stage, priority will be given to people with an increased risk of developing severe forms of the disease. According to the Ministry of Health, this initial target audience is about 16,000 people.

In pre-contact, the technical guidance is that priority is given to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA); cisgender men, transvestites and transgender women; aged 18 and over; and with an immunological status defined by a CD4 T-lymphocyte count of less than 200 cells in the past six months.

Also on the list are laboratory technicians who work directly with orthopoxvirus in laboratories with biosafety level 3 (BN-3), aged 18 to 49 years.

In the post-exposure period, that is, in people who have had direct contact with body fluids and secretions of people with a suspected, probable or confirmed diagnosis of monkeypox, exposure to which is classified as high or medium risk, according to WHO (World Health Organization) recommendations. Health).

cases in the UK

The state has 461 cases, according to Dive data updated to March 4. Florianópolis leads in terms of the number of diagnoses, with 175, followed by Balneario Camboriu (58), San José (39) and Joinville (30).

The most common symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, loss of energy, and swollen lymph nodes that are or are accompanied by a rash.

The state has recorded one death from monkeypox. The victim was a 23-year-old man who has been hospitalized since 29 September 2022 at Nereu Ramos Hospital in Florianopolis. According to Dive/SC, the patient was immunosuppressed, which aggravated the course of the disease.

“Live Vaccine”

The Ministry of Health classifies the vaccine as a “live vaccine”. “Derived from a modified strain of Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN), an attenuated and non-replicating orthopoxvirus against smallpox and monkeypox that elicits a humoral and cellular immune response against orthopoxviruses,” he explains in a note.

According to the folder, the vaccination schedule will consist of two doses (0.5 ml each) four weeks (28 days) apart for individuals over 18 years of age, to be offered to specific groups before and after exposure.