French health authority urges wider monkeypox vaccination

French health authorities urged preemptive vaccination against monkeypox for certain segments of the population, especially those with multiple sexual partners.

"Men who sleep with men and transgender people with multiple sexual partners, sex workers and people working in places where people go to find sex" were among "the groups most exposed to the virus," the HAS body said in a statement.

On top of existing advice to offer the vaccine following a confirmed monkeypox infection or at-risk contact, the top advisory body now "recommends offering pre-exposure vaccination" to all three groups.

With 577 cases of monkeypox found in France -- 387 in the Ile-de-France region which includes capital Paris -- and under pressure from LGBTQ and health groups, the health ministry had last week asked the HAS to review the vaccination guidelines.

Monkeypox causes fever, headaches, muscle and back pain for days before rashes, lesions, spots and finally scabs appear on the skin.

The World Health Organisation said men who sleep with men accounted for three in five of the more than 6,000 confirmed monkeypox infections it had collated from 59 countries.

Genome testing indicates the current outbreak is of a West African form of monkeypox, milder than the Congo Basin group.