Toronto Public Health reporting spike in mpox infections, residents urged to get vaccinated

There has been a spike in mpox infections in Toronto since the start of the year and public health officials are now warning eligible residents to make sure they are vaccinated.

The health unit says that since January there have been 21 confirmed cases of the virus in the city, compared to 27 in all of 2023.

In an interview CP24, Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Rita Shahin said that most of those who contracted mpox were not immunized against the virus.

"Of the 21 cases that we've seen since January 1, only three of them have had one dose of vaccine and the rest were unimmunized. So it's really an important reminder to people who are at risk that they should get their first dose and followed up with a second dose as well," she said.

"It is a small number of cases and we're not expecting to see the large number of cases that we saw in 2022 with over 500 cases. We know that many eligible people have gotten their first dose of vaccine, but not many came back for a second dose."

The best way to prevent mpox is through a two-dose vaccine that is given over a 28-day period, which protects those immunized against transmission as well as helps reduce serious symptoms of the virus. The vaccine becomes most effective after two weeks, TPH said.

Residents can find out more information about the vaccine, which is free of charge and accessible without an OHIP card, where they access sexual health care.

The monkeypox vaccine is seen on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, at the Cabell-Huntington Health Department in Huntington, W.Va. (Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch via AP)

Shahin said TPH is sharing this latest information in an effort to raise awareness among those who are at the greatest risk of getting mpox and to urge them to get vaccinated.

Public health officials said that currently mpox is primarily being spread in the city between people who have had close/intimate or sexual contact with a person who has the virus. Those most affected include gay and bisexual men as well as men who have sex with other men, Toronto Public Health noted in a release.

 

"We want to remind cis and trans gay, bi, queer, and all men who have sex with men, to get their first and second dose of the mpox vaccine,” Devan Nambiar, of Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance, said in a release.

 

“Mpox has not been entirely eradicated and we want you to take care of yourself and protect your sexual partners.”

 

Public health officials went on to say that travel is not a “significant factor” among the current infections, meaning that the majority of the cases being seen in Toronto are the result of local community transmission.

 

Pictured is an undated microscopic image of the mpox virus. (Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regnery/CDC/Reuters)

 

Mpox, which is formerly known as monkeypox, is a virus that spreads from person to person through contact with infected lesions, skin blisters, body fluids, or respiratory secretions. It can also be transmitted through contact with contaminated materials like clothing or bedding as well as through bites or scratches from infected animals.

 

Symptoms of mpox can begin anywhere from five to 21 days after exposure and include fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, and swollen lymph nodes. Toronto Public Health said that those symptoms are followed by a rash or blisters and lesions on the skin that can be painful, including around the genitals.

 

More information about mpox, including where to get vaccinated against it, can be found online.