A new vaccination is now available in York to tackle a virus that is on the increase in Europe.
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is an infection with symptoms including skin rash with blisters, spots or ulcers that can appear anywhere on the body, as well as fever, headache, backache and muscle aches.
A rash usually appears one to five days after a fever, headache and other symptoms.
The vaccine was only available in London and other major cities until now.
Alison Chorlton, nurse consultant for sexual health in York and North Yorkshire, says the risk of catching it in the UK is low for most people, but those at high risk the vaccine is well worth having.
Alison, who works from the YorSexual Health Clinic on Monkgate, told the YorkMix Sunday Late Show: “Recently we’ve only been able to get it in a couple of regional centres, but in the last week, we’ve started offering mpox vaccinations in York.
“So if you sit within a group that are at higher risk, which at the moment is gay, bisexual men who have sex with men, then you can attend our sexual health service, preferably booking for that so we can plan and make sure we’ve got the vaccination available, and we will be able to give you that when you attend.
“What we’ve seen is an increase of cases within Europe. So the reason that we’re really pushing the vaccination is due to that risk from travel. So as yet, we’ve not seen any additional recent cases in the UK but this is just preventative.”
“It’s efficient and effective against acquiring mpox.”
If you get infected with mpox, it usually takes between 5 and 21 days for the first symptoms to appear.
The first symptoms of mpox include:
- a high temperature (fever)
- a headache
- muscle aches
- backache
- swollen glands
- shivering (chills)
- exhaustion
- joint pain
You may not get all of these symptoms.
A rash usually appears one to five days after the first symptoms. It can be on any part of the body, including the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, mouth, genitals and anus.
The rash is sometimes confused with chickenpox. It starts as raised spots, which turn into sores (ulcers) or small blisters filled with fluid. The blisters eventually form scabs which later fall off.
The symptoms usually clear up in a few weeks. While you have symptoms, you can pass mpox on to other people.
The mpox vaccine is also recommended for:
- people who work at sex-on-premises venues, such as cleaning staff
- anyone who has had or will have close contact with someone who has mpox, or has a high risk of exposure to the virus
For more information about the various new and old treatments for HIV and STIs visit the YorSexual Health website and listen to Alison and her colleague Tina talk about it on the YorkMix Radio Sunday Late Show link here (Sunday 23 Nov live after 11pm, listen again available from Monday).
