Monkeypox Outbreaks Coming to Closure

According to the External Situation Report #6 published by the World Health Organization (WHO), new monkeypox cases declined 22% in North America and Europe last week (#37).

Despite these decreases, the majority of monkeypox cases reported in the past four weeks were from the Region of the Americas (80.3%) and the European Region (18.6%).

Overall, the WHO/African Region has reported the highest number of deaths among confirmed cases (14/23; 60.9%).

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ph.D., commented in a digital press briefing on September 22, 2022, "The (decreasing) trend is encouraging, but it is not the time for any country to assume those trends will continue."

In the United Kingdom, the monkeypox outbreak has significantly changed as of September 21, 2022.

'It is clear that community transmission occurs with multiple generations of spread. The illness appears to be generally mild, though some individuals will require hospital admissions to manage secondary infections or complications from the illness,' stated the updated U.K. guidance document.

' The monkeypox clade of monkeypox predominantly circulating in the U.K. (Clade IIb, B.1 lineage) is no longer classified as a High Consequence Infectious Disease (HCID).'

'However, importations of monkeypox from Africa and/or monkeypox not caused by Clade IIb, B.1 lineage should remain classified as an HCID, as the severity of the original clades remains unknown.'

In the USA, the U.S. CDC reported on September 22, 2022, the total number of confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases has reached 24,572 since May 2022.

Furthermore, access to the U.S. FDA-approved monkeypox vaccines has significantly improved in the USA.

As of September 20, 2022, the U.S. government distributed 807,093 doses of the Jynneos® vaccine, with 684,980 administered in the 48 U.S. Jurisdictions reporting data.

The two-dose Jynneos (IMVANEX®, IMVAMUNE®) vaccine was developed in Denmark with the support of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority as one element of the federal government's smallpox preparedness efforts. 

Additional monkeypox vaccine news is posted at PrecisionVaccinations.com/Monkeypox.