Faced with the rise in cases of monkeypox and the difficulties in tracing the chains of contamination, France announced on Friday the extension of vaccination, now offered preventively to the most exposed groups, in particular homosexuals, as in other country.

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It joins in this process the United Kingdom, the United States or Canada, as demanded by LGBTQ associations, health professionals and left-wing parties.

Until then, vaccination was only offered to adults, including caregivers, who had risky contact with a patient. About 700 people have been vaccinated.

But “faced with the spread of the Monkeypox virus, the kinetics of the epidemic and the difficulties of tracing the contacts of infected people”, the High Authority for Health (HAS) recommended extending the vaccination to be able to administer it from preventatively to those most exposed by “their sexual practices or their profession”.

France had 721 cases, including 4 women and 2 children, mainly in Île-de-France, according to the latest report from Public Health France released on Thursday.

As in other countries, the majority of reported cases concern men who have sex with men.

The possibility of preventive vaccination concerns “men who have sex with men and trans people reporting multiple sexual partners, people in a situation of prostitution, professionals in places of sexual consumption”, specified the HAS.

The government hopes to start vaccinations “from the beginning of next week”, Health Minister François Braun said on Friday.

Vaccination is carried out with two doses, spaced 28 days apart. For people vaccinated against smallpox in the past, a single dose is sufficient. For the immunocompromised, a third is recommended.

The monkeypox virus can be transmitted by direct contact with a patient's skin or mucous membrane lesions, as well as by droplets. “Sexual intercourse, with or without penetration, meets these conditions for contamination, and having several partners increases the risk of being exposed to the virus”, recalled Public Health France.

Contamination can also occur through contact with the patient's environment (bedding, clothing, bath linen, etc.). At this stage, the cases reported in Europe are mostly mild, and no deaths have been reported. This viral disease most often heals spontaneously, after 2 to 3 weeks.

An unusual upsurge in cases has been detected since May outside central and west African countries where the virus is endemic, with some 6,000 cases recorded worldwide according to the WHO.

With more than 80% of cases, Europe remains by far the most affected region. Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain are the most affected countries, with more than 1,000 cases each.