Monkeypox is deemed a public health emergency in the US

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On Thursday, the administration of US President Joe Biden deemed monkeypox a public health emergency, opening up fresh funding, facilitating data collection, and enabling the deployment of more troops to combat the illness.

Experts cautioned that prompt action was required if the outbreak was to be halted in its early stages as cases worldwide surpassed 6,600, with around a quarter of them coming from New York state.

Health and Human Services secretary Xavier Becerra called and said, “We’re prepared to take our reaction to the next level in combating this virus. We ask every American to take monkeypox seriously and to take responsibility to assist us battle this illness.

Since symptoms in the current worldwide outbreak, which started in May, have included mild indicators, such as solitary lesions, in addition to the more recognizable broad rashes, observers believe the true number of cases might be far higher than official data show.

Due to the presentation’s resemblance to prevalent sexually transmitted illnesses, this might result in instances being overlooked or incorrectly diagnosed.

About 600,000 JYNNEOS vaccinations, which were first created to protect against smallpox, a virus related to monkeypox, have been distributed in the US to date, but this amount is still well below the 1.6 million individuals who are thought to be most at risk and in need of the vaccine.

According to Dawn O’Connell, a senior HHS official, the nation’s next shipment of 150,000 JYNNEOS vaccinations, which was developed with US federal money but is produced by a small Danish business called Bavarian Nordic, should arrive only by September.

Sexual activity main driver

According to HHS’s report last week, males who have had intercourse with other men account for nearly all instances in the US. Because of this, authorities are focusing their national immunization strategy on this community.

Contrary to earlier epidemics in Africa, the virus is currently mostly transferred through sexual activity, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that alternative methods, such as sharing bedding or clothing or staying in close proximity for an extended period of time, are still conceivable.

Authorities are making particular efforts to reach out to the MSM community, providing information on new symptoms and urging them to cut back on their number of partners until they receive vaccinations.

As a result of sexual or domestic contact, a small but growing number of women and kids have also been impacted.

Fortunately, no documented US fatalities have occurred, and all patients have so far made full recoveries. However, some people have needed to be hospitalized to manage extremely painful conditions.

The disease has been treated with almost 14,000 doses of the antiviral medication tecovirimat, or TPOXX by its brand name; nevertheless, the treatment was created to treat smallpox, and its effectiveness against monkeypox is still unclear.

The stigmatization of MSMs has raised concerns.

The stigmatization of MSMs has raised concerns.

However, according to University of California, San Francisco professor Monica Gandhi’s article in Medscape, focusing on the demographic that is most afflicted is beneficial.

In order to focus resources and message on the communities most at risk, she stated, “it is vital to pinpoint those most at risk, much like with HIV and Covid.”

Five vaccines from one dose

The US declaration comes after the World Health Organization also designated the outbreak an emergency last month — something it reserves for diseases of highest concern.

Also Thursday, US Food and Drug Administration commissioner Robert Califf said his agency was considering changing the way the vaccine is injected, adopting an approach that would allow five times as many people to be vaccinated based on the same supply.

The vaccine is currently administered underneath the skin, but the new technique would involve administering it within the skin, at a more shallow angle.

This “means basically sticking the needle within the skin and creating a little pocket there into which the vaccine goes, so this is really nothing highly unusual,” said Califf.

The US will first need to declare another type of emergency so the new vaccine administration method can be greenlighted, he added. — AFP

the source used in the creation of the news: https://www.malaymail.com

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