The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the “constant transmission” of monkeypox worldwide could affect high-risk groups such as pregnant women, immunocompromised individuals and children.
The WHO said in a statement today that it is examining reports of infected children, including two cases in the UK, and is following up on cases reported in Spain and France. It was noted that none of the cases in children were severe.
Monkeypox virus has been detected in more than 50 new countries in Africa, excluding countries where it is endemic. WHO stated that the cases are increasing in these countries as well and called for increased testing.
“I am concerned about continued transmission because it shows that the virus is escalating and could spread to high-risk groups such as children, the immunocompromised, and pregnant women,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an online briefing from Geneva today.
More than 3,400 cases of monkeypox and one death have been reported among men who have had sex with men, largely in Europe, since the outbreak began in May, according to WHO data. Also this year, more than 1,500 cases and 66 deaths have been recorded in countries where the disease has spread more frequently.
The WHO decided last week that the outbreak is not yet in a public health emergency, the highest level of alert. However, Tedros explained that the organization is following the outbreak closely and will reconvene the committee “as soon as possible” to assess whether this is still the case.
The United Nations-affiliated organization also announced that it is working on a mechanism for a more equitable distribution of vaccines, after countries including the UK and the USA announced that they wanted to share their stocks of smallpox vaccine, which also protects against monkeypox.
The USA is trying to take precautions by increasing vaccines
Meanwhile, the US government is speeding up efforts to contain the spread of monkeypox by sending hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses to states over the coming months, expanding access to those most at risk, and increasing supply to areas with high cases.
The plan, announced yesterday, includes rapidly expanding hitherto limited access to doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine to prevent monkeypox in areas where transmission is highest and needed.
State and local health departments will also be able to order the vaccine from Emergent BioSolutions, which is in much greater supply but has more side effects and cannot be used by everyone, including the immunocompromised.
Officials said the Biden administration will allocate 296,000 doses of Jynneos from the national stockpile to states and regions in the coming weeks, with 56,000 doses to be made available immediately and 1.6 million doses in the coming months.
306 cases of monkeypox have been recorded in the United States. There is concern about the rapid spread of the virus, a viral infection associated with smallpox that produces painful skin lesions.
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. “As additional supplies become available, we will further expand our efforts and make vaccines available to a wider population,” Rochelle Walensky told reporters.
New strategy for vaccine distribution
Health officials in the US have previously focused on offering the vaccine to individuals who have had direct contact with a person who has had a confirmed case of monkeypox.
The new strategy will expand this definition to include putative contacts, said Jennifer McQuiston, CDC’s Deputy Director of Pathogens and Pathology of High Concern.
These will include people who have had close contact with someone diagnosed with monkeypox, those who know their sexual partner has been diagnosed with monkeypox, and men who have recently had sex with men who have had multiple partners in an area known to have monkeypox or in an area where monkeypox has spread.
Biden administration officials said the aim of the first phase of the strategy is to slow the spread of the disease.