The U.S. and European countries are securing thousands of additional treatments and vaccines to prevent the worst case. While cases are growing on both sides of the Atlantic, public health officials insist there is no cause for panic. While monkeypox can be fatal, it usually resolves on its own after two to four weeks.
The outbreak is unusual because most of the infected had not traveled to Central or Western Africa, where the virus is endemic in animals. Dr. Boghuma Kabisen Titanji said this is the most significant monkeypox case outside the endemic region and simultaneously in multiple countries.
The Bavarian Nordic manufacturer said they received procurement requests of Jynneos doses from many countries expecting to buy the shot. They can supply the skyrocketing demand.
Health officials in Europe confirmed over 250 virus infection cases across Spain, U.K., and Portugal, which typically causes rash, fever, and swollen lymph nodes. The U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed one point in Massachusetts. It is reviewing presumed monkeypox cases from Utah, Florida, and New York. California was also working with the CDC to investigate a suspected monkeypox case. According to CDC:
The U.S. national strategic stockpile has just over 1,000 Jynneos doses, approved by the FDA in 2019, and 100 million doses of an older smallpox vaccine that has more side effects.
The agency expects the level to ramp up in the coming weeks as Bavarian Nordic provides more doses.
The U.K. has already started vaccinating people, with 1,000 Imvanex vaccines, with 3,500 doses left. Germany has purchased 40,000 shots.
CDC’s Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology medical officer Brett Petersen, the FDA, has two approved antivirals for smallpox that they can use for monkeypox. Tecovirimat is already in the national stockpile and approved in Europe to treat monkeypox.
The U.S. government is dealing with the second drug manufacturer, Brincidofovir, to treat the virus.
The vaccine is relatively new and is not commercially available. Still, monkeypox is not contagious as COVID-19. It is also unlikely to infect millions of people the way COVID did.
The Biden administration wants to raise awareness about the disease because it does not want to cause panic in a pandemic-weary nation.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden said monkeypox was something everybody should be concerned about but did not pose the same level of risk as Covid-19.
The virus typically transmits to people through direct contact with infected animals in Congo and Nigeria. Four endemic countries declared 1,300 cases and 60 casualties in the last six months.
The monkeypox virus disseminates through close contact with recently contaminated objects or people with lesions.
Written by Janet Grace Ortigas
Edited by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
Politico: Demand for monkeypox vaccine grows in U.S., European countries as virus cases climb; byCarmen Paun, Krista Mahr, and Helen Collis
Health News: Demand for monkeypox vaccine grows in U.S., European countries as virus cases climb & More Health News
CBC: Government taking ‘targeted’ approach to monkeypox vaccination: health official: Richard Raycraft
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Jernej Furman’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of NIAID’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
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