So far the agency has confirmed 20 cases in the UK.ĭr Hopkins said updated figures for the weekend will be given on Monday as she warned of more cases “on a daily basis”. The guidance comes after Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for UKHSA, warned that monkeypox is spreading through community transmission. UKHSA also advises that they are offered a smallpox vaccine. Those who are considered at high risk of having caught monkeypox may have had household contact, sexual contact, or have changed an infected person’s bedding without wearing appropriate PPE. This includes no travel, providing details for contact tracing and avoiding direct contact with immunosuppressed people, pregnant women and children under 12. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance now recommends that people who have had “unprotected direct contact or high-risk environmental contact” should isolate for three weeks. Contacts of monkeypox cases at high risk of having caught the infection should self-isolate for 21 days, latest government guidance says.