UK buys more vaccines for monkeypox as cases top 2,100

LONDON (AP) — British has bought another 100,000 doses of vaccine to stop monkeypox as the number of cases across the country has risen to more than 2,130, the majority of them in London, officials said Tuesday.

Britain's Health Security Agency said while the epidemic is expanding, the majority of cases “continue to be in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, with the infection being passed on mainly through close contact between people in interconnected sexual networks.”

Scientists previously said there was no evidence of monkeypox spreading beyond those limited networks.

Monkeypox can infect anyone who has close, physical contact with an infected individual or the person's clothing or bedsheets, regardless of sexual orientation.

Last month, British authorities expanded their vaccination strategy, offering vaccines not only to health workers treating monkeypox patients and high-risk contacts of patients, but to some men who are gay or bisexual and at high risk of catching the virus, including those with multiple sexual partners or who participate in group sex.

Officials also dropped a recommendation for the contacts of monkeypox cases to isolate for three weeks unless they have symptoms.

The change was prompted by data showing that only a small number of contacts are ultimately sickened by monkeypox and a lack of evidence that the disease spreads without close, intimate or sexual contact.

However, health authorities urged people to remain vigilant for any signs of the disease, including a fever, headache or rash.

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