Over 36,000 Jynneos vaccine doses are stockpiled in the United States

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 36,000 Jynneos monkeypox vaccines are readily available in the United States on strategic national stockpiles.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sends vaccines to people at high risk of the virus to prevent further spread of the disease. The United States identified 25 confirmed or estimated cases of monkeypox in 12 states as of Friday.

U.S. said Bavarian NordicA spokeswoman for HHS, a Danish biotechnology company, said it plans to ship another 36,000 doses of Jynneos in the near future. According to a spokeswoman, Bavarian Nordic has more than one million doses owned by the United States and can meet an additional 16.4 million doses at the request of the federal government.

Global monkeypox outbreaks are the largest ever outside Africa. About 800 cases of monkeypox confirmed in 27 countries have been reported to the World Health Organization. Most cases occur in Europe, especially Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration approved Jynneos for adults over the age of 18 who are at high risk for smallpox or monkeypox. The double dose vaccine is the only injection approved specifically for the prevention of monkeypox. However, there are also over 100 million older generation smallpox vaccines, ACAM2000, in the United States. ACAM2000 is made by Emergent BioSolutions

Dr. Raj Panjabi, head of the White House’s Pandemic Countermeasures Office, called with reporters on Friday and the United States distributed 1,200 doses of Jynneos and ACAM 2000 for people at high risk of monkeypox exposure. Said.

ACAM2000 was approved by the FDA in 2007 to prevent smallpox, but the vaccine can also be used to protect against monkeypox under the CDC program. Monkeypox belongs to the same viral family as smallpox, but is much milder.

According to Punjabi, the United States also distributes an oral antiviral drug called Tekobirimat that can be used to treat people infected with monkeypox. Tecovirimat was the first tablet approved by the FDA in 2018 to treat smallpox, but it can also be used for monkeypox under the CDC program.

The CDC usually recommends Jynneos over ACAM 2000, which can cause serious side effects. ACAM2000 uses a live, mild viral strain of the same family as monkeypox and smallpox, and can still spread to the human body and other people. The vaccine is given as a single dose that is scratched on the upper arm, and the virus grows into a local infection in the form of blisters.

For example, if you scratch the blisters and then rub your eyes, the patient can spread the virus to other parts of the body and cause vision problems. The virus can spread to other members of the patient’s family and is dangerous if the family members have weak immunity, are pregnant or breastfeeding. The FDA warns that it is important to properly manage the injection site to prevent the spread of the virus to those who receive ACAM 2000.

There is also a large group of people who are not supposed to receive ACAM 2000 under the CDC guidelines because of the risk of side effects. These people include pregnant or lactating women, people with weak immunity, people with skin diseases, and people with heart disease.

In pregnant women, the viral strain from the vaccine can spread to the fetus and cause stillbirth. People with weak immunity face the risk of the virus spreading out of control and can cause dangerous infections. People with skin disorders such as eczema and atopic dermatitis are also at risk of the virus spreading to the skin and causing life-threatening infections. ACAM2000 is also associated with the risk of heart inflammation known as myocarditis and pericarditis.

The Jynneos vaccine uses a mild viral strain that cannot be replicated or spread in the human body, resulting in fewer side effects.

According to Mark Slifka, an immunoscientist at Oregon Health & Science University, ACAM2000 shows a high level of protection against monkeypox in animal models, with 85% protection against viral diseases, similar to previous versions of the smallpox vaccine. Expected to provide. According to Slifka, the vaccine is new, so little is known about the effectiveness of Jynneos, but it is necessary to produce good antibodies in humans and protect them from serious illness.

Global monkeypox outbreaks have raised concerns among public health authorities, as the virus is so rarely spread outside West Africa and Central Africa. Historically, the virus has leapt from rodents to people in remote villages in Africa. However, according to Slifka, the virus now appears to be better transmitted among people through close physical contact.

WHO officials said last week that the virus could have spread outside Africa, but it’s unclear how long.

According to WHO, most of the cases so far have been reported by gay and bisexual men who developed the system and sought care at sexual health clinics. Health officials emphasize that anyone can catch monkeypox through close physical contact. However, they said it was important to raise awareness of the situation in the LGBTQ community so that individuals could protect their health.

CDC official Dr. Jennifer McKistton told reporters last week that most U.S. patients had a medical history of traveling abroad 21 days before the onset of symptoms and were likely to have picked up the virus abroad. Said that. The CDC does not currently believe that monkeypox is widespread in the United States, but health cannot rule out the possibility that monkeypox is infected domestically, McKistton said.

Most people with monkeypox recover in 2-4 weeks without special treatment, but the rash that is characteristic of the disease can be very painful, McKistton said. I am. She said the threat to public health is low so far.

Monkeypox usually begins with symptoms that resemble the flu or rash and then begins to spread throughout the body. The virus is transmitted primarily through skin-to-skin contact with these rashes. People can also catch monkeypox through shared bed sheets and clothing. According to the CDC, people with lesions in the throat or mouth can also spread the virus through respiratory droplets, but it is not easy to get infected this way.

According to the CDC, people with confirmed or suspected monkeypox infection should be quarantined at home until the state or local health department says otherwise. People with monkeypox should leave the quarantine only after the rash has become a scab, has fallen, and a new layer of skin has formed.