What Is Monkeypox How Severe Is It
Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease, which means it’s transmitted from animals to humans. It’s caused by an orthopoxvirus of the same family as the one that causes smallpox, though smallpox is considered more clinically severe than monkeypox.
There are two clades or types of monkeypox virus, according to the World Health Organization: the West African clade and the Congo Basin clade. The West African strain, which has been identified in the recent cases, according to a May 26 presentation by the WHO, has a fatality rate of less than 1%. The Congo Basin or Central African clade has a higher mortality rate of up to 10%, per the WHO.
Monkeypox has caused 72 deaths this year in countries where it’s endemic, according to the WHO, but no deaths have been reported in the current outbreak in countries where it isn’t endemic, including the US.
Monkeypox was first discovered in the 1950s in colonies of monkeys that were being researched, according to the CDC, but it’s also been found in squirrels, rats and other animals. The first human case was discovered in 1970.
Who Can And Cannot Receive The Smallpox/monkeypox Vaccine At This Time
- The IMVAMUNE vaccine may be offered to adults 18 years of age and older who do not have contraindications.
- Although IMVAMUNE is not authorized for children and has not been studied in this population, they may be at higher risk of severe outcomes from monkeypox infection and may benefit from vaccination. There is a lack of evidence of safety and efficacy of IMVAMUNE pre-exposure prophylaxis or post-exposure prophylaxis in this group, though indirect evidence of clinical testing of other vaccine types indicates that IMVAMUNE components are well tolerated in recipients under 18 years of age.
- IMVAMUNE has been administered to 120 subjects 56 to 80 years of age with no difference in safety and immunogenicity compared to adults up to 55 years old.
Table 1 indicates who should and should not receive the IMVAMUNE vaccine and provides some questions you may be asked before being vaccinated and possible recommendations based on your response. These recommendations are based on the advice of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization .
Five Things You Need To Know About Monkeypox
The UK has seen unusual cases of monkeypox, which is normally spread by infected wild animals in Africa. So what is this disease, how does it spread and can it be treated?
- 17 May 2022
The UK now has seven cases of monkeypox, an infectious disease that doesnt spread easily between people. The first case on 7 May 2022 is thought to have been brought into the UK by a traveller returning from Nigeria. A week later, two more had been diagnosed with monkeypox and health authorities said they were not related to the initial case.
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Is Monkeypox Related To Smallpox
Monkeypox is closely related to smallpox. It was first discovered in 1958 in monkeys used for research, but it is now spread mostly by rodents. The recent uptick in monkeypox cases in Africa and worldwide may be due in part to the waning immunity to smallpox since most countries stopped their vaccination programs in the 1970s and 1980s.
The smallpox vaccine, created in 1796, was the first successful vaccine against a contagious disease. Thanks to a global effort in the mid-20th century, cases of smallpox were eliminated worldwide. No one has become naturally infected with smallpox since 1977, the CDC said.
Older adults may have residual immunity to smallpox from being vaccinated as children and young adults. Its not clear how long this initial immunity lasts, though one study indicates antibodies may protect against smallpox for up to 88 years.
Some military service people are still vaccinated against smallpox. The U.S. has maintained an emergency supply of smallpox vaccine partially due to the risk of a bioterrorism attack involving the virus.
Will An Old Smallpox Vaccine Protect Against Monkeypox
Regular smallpox vaccination in the U.S. ended in the 1970s. But a smallpox vaccine even one you received decades ago will likely still provide some protection from monkeypox. How much protection it might give you isn’t clear yet, experts said.
“We do know that the smallpox vaccine does offer some protection against monkeypox,” Dr. Daniel Uslan, co-chief infection prevention officer for UCLA Health and clinical chief of the UCLA Division of Infectious Diseases, told TODAY.
“But that protection is likely greatest in the months to years after the smallpox vaccine is given,” he said. “And, of course, we have not been giving people smallpox vaccine for many decades in this country.”
Those who received a smallpox vaccine many years ago will likely still be protected against that and monkeypox “because they would have memory cells that would offer protection,” Michael Gale, Ph.D., an immunologist at the University of Washington, told TODAY. These cells, which include some T cells and B cells, facilitate one part of the immune response we get from a vaccine. And the protection that memory cells provide can last for many years after getting that vaccine.
Uslan agreed: “My suspicion is that they will have some protection, but we really don’t know exactly how much yet,” he said.
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When Was Monkeypox First Reported In Humans
The first-known case of human monkeypox infection was reported from Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, in a nine-month-old boy with a non-fatal smallpox-like illness.
Since then, sporadic human cases have occurred in many Central and West African countries, with infections being more common in children and young adults. In countries where monkeypox is endemic , recent increases in cases are believed to be related to climate change, deforestation, warfare, increased population mobility and waning herd immunity from smallpox vaccination.
Who Should Get The Vaccines
Bavarian Nordic is a relatively small vaccine manufacturer, and the limited supplies of its MVA-BN vaccine are already disappearing fast. Five days after the monkeypox outbreak began, the United States exercised its option to purchase an additional 500,000 doses, on top of the 1.4 million doses already in the U.S. stockpile. On June 14, the European Union signed a deal with Bavarian Nordic for the supply of 109,090 doses of MVA-BN, even though the European Medicines Agency has yet to authorize the vaccine for use against monkeypox. Germany has purchased 40,000 doses and reserved an option for 200,000 more. France is already vaccinating with MVA-BN and Denmark, Spain, and the United Kingdom have likewise announced purchases. Exactly how many MVA-BN doses are left to buy remains unclear, but there are signs that current supplies may be running short. Canada, which recently signed a $56 million contract with Bavarian Nordic for MVA-BN vaccines, will have to wait until 2023 for its first deliveries to arrive.
The WHO has urged its member countries to work together to ensure monkeypox vaccine supplies are made available adequately and equitably, including to countries with limited/no vaccine supply. The organization says it will establish coordination mechanisms to make vaccines available where needed, as it tried to do with COVID-19.
Monkeypox is an immediate test of whether wealthy countries have learned the lessons of COVID-19.
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How Severe Is Monkeypox Infection
The disease is usually mild, although severe illness and death can occur. There are two common genetic variants of monkeypox virus: the Central African variant and the West African variant. Mortality rates of 3.6 per cent for the West African variant and 10.6 per cent for the Central African variant have been reported in endemic regions.
However, no deaths have occurred to date in any of the cases reported outside of Africa. All confirmed cases from the 2022 outbreak in the 30 non-endemic countries have been due to the West African variant.
How Can You Protect Yourself Against Monkeypox
Monkeypox is spread through close physical contact with people who are infected. This could mean sharing a bed, touching someone with wounds, or inhaling respiratory droplets from an infected person.
Many of the initial infections reported in Europe were among men who have sex with men. But the virus is not sexually transmitted in the traditional sense, but rather by close physical contact, making other groups vulnerable to infection, John Brooks, MD, chief medical officer for the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, told reporters at a media briefing.
People who become sick with monkeypox should stay isolated at home and avoid contact with people, especially those who are immunocompromised, pregnant, or otherwise at high risk.
In the absence of close physical contact with someone, the likelihood of getting infected is exceedingly low, Deresinski said.
Glatt added that continuing normal hygienelike practicing good hand washing and minimizing contact with sick peopleis sufficient to minimize exposure to the disease.
The general population should take a deep breath and not be worried about this, Glatt said.
It’s a very important issue for public health officials, for the CDC, for hospitals and for epidemiologists to make sure that we keep everybody as safe as possible, he added. But you’re not going to get this sitting in the waiting room, library, in the hospital or another place.
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Who To Determine If Monkeypox Should Be Declared Emergency Of International Concern Rights Expert Warns Of Covid Vaccine Apartheid
The head of the World Health Organization announced on Tuesday that the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee has been convened due to the spread of the Monkeypox virus to 32 non-endemic countries.
The experts will meet on June 23 to assess whether the continuing outbreak represents a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the highest level of global alert, which currently applies only to the COVID-19 pandemic and polio.
So far this year, more than 1,600 confirmed cases and almost 1,500 suspected cases of Monkeypox have been reported to WHO, across 39 countries including seven countries where monkeypox has been detected for years, and 32 newly-affected nations.
What are the symptoms of #Monkeypox? Who is at risk and how can we protect ourselves? What is WHO’s response? This and more. WHOs Dr.Rosamund Lewis, , explains in Science in 5.
World Health Organization
At least 72 deaths have been reported from previously affected countries. No deaths have been registered so far from the newly affected countries, but the agency is seeking to verify news reports of a related death in Brazil.
“The global outbreak of Monkeypox is clearly unusual and concerning, said WHO director Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, calling to step up the response and international coordination.
“We don’t want to wait until the situation is out of control, he said.
Monkeypox Vaccination Begins Can The Global Outbreaks Be Contained
A man receives a vaccine at a monkeypox clinic in Montreal, Canada, on 6 June.Credit: Christinne Muschi/Reuters
As global monkeypox cases continue to rise, public-health officials and researchers are questioning whether the current outbreaks can be contained. The World Health Organization has said that the situation is unlikely to escalate into a full-blown pandemic. But there are now more than 1,000 confirmed infections in nearly 30 countries where outbreaks do not usually occur .
Countries including Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States have begun implementing a strategy called ring vaccination to try to halt the spread of the virus. This involves administering smallpox vaccines which are thought to be effective against monkeypox because the viruses are related to people who have been exposed to monkeypox through close contact with an infected person.
But there are unknowns and challenges that come with this strategy, says Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Although the vaccines are considered safe and effective for use in people with smallpox infection, they have had limited testing against monkeypox. The strategy also relies on rigorous contact tracing, which might not be implemented in every country, and people must agree to be inoculated with vaccines that can trigger rare, but serious, side effects.
Sources: Global.health Monkeypox /WHO
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Canada Launches Vaccine Campaign Against Monkeypox
Quebec is the first Canadian province to launch a vaccine campaign against monkeypox, specifically aimed at high-risk people who have been exposed to the virus.
Over 800 Quebecers have been vaccinated with the Imvamune smallpox vaccine so far, which can build immunity against monkeypox, according to Canadian public health officials.
So far, 90 cases of monkeypox have been recorded in Quebec, mostly centred in the city of Montreal. Elsewhere in Canada, 5 cases have been recorded in Ontario and 1 in Alberta.
Were vaccinating in a very targeted way. So we vaccinated people that had high-risk exposure in the last 14 days, says Montreal Medical Officer for Health Emergencies and Infectious Diseases Dr. Genevieve Bergeron.
Monkeypox is not classified as a sexually-transmitted disease but can be spread through sexual contact, said the doctor.
Anyone who shows symptoms of monkeypox fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes, sores and puss-filled skin lesions should self-isolate and notify those who they have been in contact with, the doctor added.
According to the World Health Organisation, the monkeypox virus is a rare viral infection similar to human smallpox. So, the smallpox vaccine which hasnt been routinely offered in Canada in decades can be used to build immunity against monkeypox. Immunity is built within 7 10 days after the vaccine is administered.
What Are The Symptoms Of Monkeypox And Is There A Vaccine
Concern continues to mount over the global outbreak of monkeypox, withmore than 500 cases detected in the UK.
According to the NHS, the illness was mainly found in West Africa and Central Africa prior to the outbreak, which began in early May 2022 but the UKs case number is now the largest outside of Africa.
But what is monkeypox, and what are the key symptoms that you need to look out for?
Here is everything you need to know.
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What To Know About The Monkeypox Virus
What is monkeypox?Monkeypox is a virus endemic in parts of Central and West Africa. It is similar to smallpox, but less severe. It was discovered in 1958, after outbreaks occurred in monkeys kept for research, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What are the symptoms?Monkeypox creates a rash that starts with flat red marks that become raised and filled with pus. Infected people may also have a fever and body aches. Symptoms typically appear in six to 13 days but can take as long as three weeks after exposure to show, and can last for two to four weeks. Health officials say smallpox vaccines and other treatments can be used to control an outbreak.
How infectious is it?The virus spreads mainly through body fluids, skin contact and respiratory droplets, though some experts suggest that it could occasionally be airborne. Typically it does not lead to major outbreaks, though it has spread in unusual ways this year, and among populations that have not been vulnerable in the past.
Should I be worried?The likelihood of the virus being spread during sexual contact is high, but the risk of transmission in other ways is low. Most people have mild symptoms and recover within weeks, but the virus can be fatal in a small percentage of cases. Studies also suggest that older adults may have some protection from .
As of Wednesday, there had been a total 1,058 tests nationwide for the orthopoxvirus, the family of viruses to which monkeypox belongs, the C.D.C. said.
Are There Any Other Public Health Recommendations For Monkeypox
People who are infected with monkeypox should wear surgical masks, and skin lesions should be covered until they have healed. Personal use items such as towels and sheets should not be shared. Frequently touched surfaces should be regularly disinfected, contaminated clothing should be laundered and contact with household and non-household members should be avoided until the illness has resolved.
Health-care workers should use gloves, gowns and respiratory protection with N95 masks and face shields, and maintain excellent hand hygiene while caring for patients with monkeypox. Hospitalized patients with confirmed or suspected monkeypox should be isolated with precautions for airborne, droplet and contact transmission until they are no longer contagious.
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How Is Imvamune Different From The Old
Imvamune contains a weakened strain of the vaccinia virus, which provokes the immune response to fight off smallpox and monkeypox.
Unlike the original smallpox vaccine, this weakened virus is non-replicating, meaning it can’t make copies of itself.
Early-generation vaccines based on replicating vaccinia strains led to unpleasant side effects for some and could be problematic for people who were immunocompromised, said Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious disease specialist at McMaster University in Hamilton.
In addition, older generations of smallpox vaccine are administered differently. Instead of a regular syringe, the health-care provider uses a “bifurcated needle” with two prongs and pricks the skin repeatedly to get the dose in.
Is The Vaccine Safe
The IMVANEX vaccine was approved for use in the European Union in 2013 for immunisation against smallpox in adults. It currently does not have approval for immunisation against monkeypox in the EU. However, the same vaccine is marketed in the USA as JYNNEOS and has received Food and Drug Administration approval for prevention of both smallpox and monkeypox.
The IMVANEX vaccine meets the required standards of safety and effectiveness. Once a vaccine is in use, its safety continues to be monitored.
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