The Directorate-General for Health (DGS) today updated the rule on mpox vaccination allowing people at increased risk of infection to schedule vaccination on their own initiative.
According to the DGS, eligible people who self-propose for preventive mpox vaccination can schedule the act “by contacting the vaccination point that is most convenient for them”.
The list of places available for preventive mpox vaccination can be found on the DGS portal.
People at increased risk of mpox include men who have sex with men, men with multiple sexual partners, adults with a sexually transmitted infection diagnosed in the last six months, with a history of group sexual practices or with the use of psychoactive substances, as well as adults with anonymous sexual partners or involved in commercial sex and adults in an AIDS prophylaxis program.
The list also includes staff and users of venues where group sex or anonymous sex takes place, healthcare workers with direct and continuous contact with people infected with the mpox virus or professionals who collect and process biological products from people with mpox.
The recommended vaccination schedule for people at increased risk of infection is two doses, administered intradermally (not indicated for pregnant women or severely immunosuppressed people).
The DGS points out that “consultations of specialties that assist people at higher risk of mpox remain crucial for the dissemination and awareness of vaccination, and may use the completion of the declaration of eligibility”.
In Portugal, 49 cases of mpox were detected between June 1 and July 28, all men between the ages of 22 and 55, following a new outbreak, according to data from the DGS known on Monday.
According to the DGS, the new outbreak is characterized by a different strain of the virus than the 2022 outbreak, “reflecting the reintroduction of the virus in the highest risk group in Portugal and transmission chains enhanced in the context of summer events and festivals”.
Most cases were men who had sex with men.
Since the beginning of the mpox outbreak in May 2022 and until July 28, 2023, 1,002 laboratory-confirmed cases, including one death, have been reported in Portugal, with no new cases reported in Portugal since March 27.
49 mpox cases detected since June 1, exceeding 1,000 cases in Portugal
New outbreak of mpox with 37 cases in Lisbon and Tagus Valley
