Monkeypox seems to have peaked in Belgium
The number of new cases of monkeypox seems to have stabilised in Belgium, the latest figures supplied by the health institute Sciensano show.
Belgium has 624 official cases of monkeypox so far: 336 in Flanders, 223 in Brussels and 65 in Wallonia. The total number was 546 last week and 482 the week before that.
Koen Blot of Sciensano says that "we seem to have reached a peak. The number of new cases seems to stablise around 75 per week. We see the same trend on an international level, in some countries we are even seeing a decline." There have been 35,000 cases worldwide, 12 people have died.
Steven Callens, a professor in infectious diseases, thinks it is too early to say we have reached a peak. "But we hope that the present trend will continue. "
29 Belgians that contracted monkepox were hospitalised, but no patients had to go to intensive care. There have been no reports of deaths in Belgium. Most patients in Belgium are adult men.