Vancouver Coastal Health urges mpox vaccinations amid recent increase in cases [Video]

Vancouver Coastal Health officials are urging residents, especially men who have sex with other men, to see if they are fully immunized against mpox amid a recent rise in cases.

Mpox, a virus in the same family as smallpox, can cause painful rashes, fever, enlarged lymph nodes, and respiratory symptoms.

Officials say the virus continues to spread primarily through person-to-person contact and is currently affecting gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

The virus gained prominence in 2022, when it exploded and caused severe disease in communities around the world and was observed as being primarily transmitted through sexual contact.

WATCH | Mpox cases spreading in Vancouver area: B.C. health officials say mpox is on the rise again in the Vancouver area. The virus, which continues to spread in the city’s gay and bisexual communities, spiked in 2022 but never went away. CBC’s Rafferty Baker reports.

Nineteen cases have been reported in the Vancouver Coastal …