United States: The US is currently experiencing an increase in Mpox (formally, monkeypox) cases, nearly twice the number of cases compared to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data last year.
High-risk groups need to be vigilant – Experts
Even though the spread of the influenza virus in 2022 was a significant incidence, the country’s national cases had at least 32,000. The last push of this epidemic has succeeded, but high-risk groups warrant being cautious. Health workers still warn about.
Dr. Jenni McQuiston, deputy director of the CDC’s high consequence pathogens and pathology division, said, “Most of the cases that we’re seeing reported are either unvaccinated or under-vaccinated, meaning they either never received a vaccine, or they only got one dose,” as ABC News reported.
Who should take up the vaccine?
The vaccine called Jynneos is being administered in two stages and is recommended to those who exposed themselves to someone infected with mpox or had sexual contact with someone with the infection.
For now, no booster dose is available in market. Additionally, the locations which offers free vaccine are mentioned on CDC’s website.
Other than that, those who are eligible to get vaccinations are those who identify themselves as gay, bisexual, or a man who has sex with other men, and also those who have been found to have contracted more than one sexually transmitted disease in the last six months.
Additionally, those with weak immune systems, such as those having HIV, are also eligible.
Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, said, “Current guidance aims to curb this increase by targeting vaccination efforts toward high-risk groups and individuals with potential exposure to mpox, underscoring the importance of these preventive measures in our public health response,” as ABC News reported.
Although this virus was predominant among the men who have sex with men and other groups in the original outbreak, the virus does not discriminate, the experts explained. And it has a tendency to spread among any two people.
Much as in the case of many other vaccines, this shot will primarily prove effective in protecting against the development of severe disease, especially if a person does not have any affection for the virus. Nevertheless, it will not necessarily prevent infection completely.
There is usually a delay of about two weeks after the second dose before the body get to a 100 percent protection span.
Dr. Richard Silvera, associate program director of the infectious diseases fellowship and assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said, “Vaccines don’t always 100% prevent disease; they ultimately reduce the severity of disease. So, seeing people contract mpox after vaccination is not unexpected. But we have seen less severe disease in the majority of patients with mpox in this current outbreak,” as ABC News reported.