It will be offered as of Oct. 6 "to all people who received the first dose and who continue to be at risk of infection.”
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Quebec now has 404 confirmed or probable monkeypox cases, including six reported over the past week, Montreal public health said Wednesday.
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“Although the number of newly reported cases has gradually decreased over the past few weeks and is now relatively low, the risk of importation remains high due to ongoing transmission elsewhere in the world,” the public health department said.
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It also noted that “the duration of immunity conferred by one dose of vaccine is not known.”
Thanks to a new supply of vaccines, second doses will be offered as of Thursday, Oct. 6, the department announced.
That follow-up dose “will be offered to all people who received the first dose and who continue to be at risk of infection.”
The second dose can be administered 28 days after the first dose. It can only be administered to people who do not have symptoms.
Five clinics are offering the vaccine, with or without appointments.
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Monkeypox is associated with a painful rash.
In an update published Wednesday, the public health department said local cases most often present lesions to the genital organs, extremities, the anal region, the face or on the trunk.
Several patients have reported swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, fever, headache, night sweats, muscle pain, joint stiffness, sore throat, cough or rectal pain.
While not considered strictly a sexually transmitted infection, it is spread through contact with bodily fluids or scabs and contaminated personal items.
The public health department says the vaccine is being offered to several groups.
They include people who, in the past 14 days, have had:
- Direct (skin-to-skin) contact with someone who has monkeypox (confirmed or probable case).
- Direct contact with objects or bedding potentially contaminated with the monkeypox virus, at an event or social gathering where there is sexual activity.
- Physical contact at less than a metre with someone who has monkeypox (confirmed or probable case), when not wearing a mask and for at least three hours (total over 24 hours).
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The vaccine is also available to gay, bisexual, heterosexual, pansexual or queer men, and transfeminine, transmasculine, two-spirit, non-binary or gender non-conforming people who have sexual contact with at least one male partner in Montreal (other than a single regular partner) at an event or social gathering where there is sexual activity or in exchange for money or other goods and services.
In addition, the vaccine is being offered to workers and volunteers at a GBTQ+ event or social gathering in Montréal where there is sexual activity, as well as to people who trade sexual services for money, goods or services.
Across Quebec, there have been 521 reported cases of monkeypox, according to the provincial health department.
Canada has registered 1,400 cases. Quebec has the second highest case count in the country, after Ontario, which has reported 674 cases.
With monkeypox cases at 404, Quebec offers second vaccine dose - Montreal Gazette
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