UKHSA updates monkeypox guidance as it secures 100,000 additional vaccine doses
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed that close contacts of monkeypox no longer need to isolate if they do not have symptoms.
It stated that the change is taking place because a relatively small number of close contacts have gone on to develop monkeypox.
There is also a lack of evidence of transmission outside of close and/or intimate contact. This brings the UK’s guidance in line with advice from the World Health Organisation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It comes as 100,000 additional vaccine doses were secured by the UKHSA. “Monkeypox is a rare and usually mild disease that does not spread easily between people, but we are taking action to help further manage the outbreak in the UK by procuring over 100,000 additional doses of vaccine,” said Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary. “The NHS is already contacting those eligible for the vaccine, and I would urge people to take up the offer as soon as they are contacted.
