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Monkeypox | doh – Washington, D.C.

Monkeypox | doh – Washington, D.C.

October 31, 2022

Monkeypox (MPX) is a rare, but potentially serious viral illness that can be transmitted from person to person through direct contact with body fluid or monkeypox lesions.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first U.S. monkeypox case on May 18, 2022. In May 2022, Massachusetts confirmed a monkeypox case in a patient with recent travel to Canada; Texas and Maryland each reported a case in 2021 in people with recent travel to Nigeria. Since early May 2022, the United Kingdom has identified nine cases of monkeypox; the first case had recently traveled to Nigeria. None of the other cases have reported recent travel.

On May 26, 2022, DC Health issued a Health Notice for District of Columbia Health Care Providers with clinical recommendations and reporting requirements for any suspected cases.

On June 4, 2022, the DC Public Health Lab confirmed the first positive Orthopoxvirus case in a District resident who reported recent travel to Europe.

On September 22, 2022, DC Health announced the updatedeligibility criteria for monkeypox vaccinations in the District.

Beginning October 15, the monkeypox clinics will merge and collocate with the COVID Centers in Wards 2, 3 and 8.

New DC Health Service Center locations and hours:

The data is updated on Wednesdays. For additional data points on DC cases, click here.

Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research. The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a concentrated effort to eliminate smallpox. Since then, monkeypox has been reported in people in several other central and western African countries.

Monkeypox cases in people have occurred outside of Africa linked to international travel or imported animals, including cases in the US.

In humans, the symptoms of monkeypox can be similar to but milder than the symptoms of smallpox.

Symptoms can begin with:

Within 13 days (sometimes longer) after the appearance of fever, the patient develops a rash, often beginning on the face and then spreading to other parts of the body. The rash can progress from being flat and red, to being a bump, to being fluid-filled, to being pus-filled, and then to being a scab.

Symptoms usually appear between 714 days after exposure but can range between 521 days. The illness typically lasts between 24 weeks.

Monkeypox virus can spread when a person comes into contact with the virus from an infected animal, infected person, or materials contaminated with the virus. Monkeypox virus may spread from animals to people through the bite or scratch of an infected animal, by handling wild game, or through the use of products made from infected animals. The virus may also spread through direct contact with body fluids or sores on an infected person or with materials that have touched body fluids or sores, such as clothing or linens.

Monkeypox spreads between people primarily through direct contact with infectious sores, scabs, or body fluids. It also can be spread by respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact. Monkeypox can spread during intimate contact between people, including during sex, as well as activities like kissing, cuddling, or touching parts of the body with monkeypox sores.

There are a number of measures that be taken to prevent infection with monkeypox virus:

There are no treatments specifically for monkeypox virus infections. However, monkeypox and smallpox viruses are genetically similar, which means that antiviral drugs and vaccines developed to protect against smallpox may be used to prevent and treat monkeypox virus infections.

JYNNEOSTM (also known as Imvamune or Imvanex) is an attenuated live virus vaccine which has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the prevention of monkeypox.

If you have symptoms of monkeypox, you should talk to your healthcare provider, even if you dont think you had contact with someone who has monkeypox.

Those eligible for the monkeypox vaccine include individuals who meet one of the following criteria:

The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences is recruiting volunteers for a monkeypox vaccine clinical trial. Learn more at gwvru.smhs.gwu.edu, or contact (202) 994-1599.


View original post here: Monkeypox | doh - Washington, D.C.
US may expand monkeypox vaccine eligibility to men with HIV

US may expand monkeypox vaccine eligibility to men with HIV

October 31, 2022

NEW YORK (AP) U.S. officials are considering broadening recommendations for who gets vaccinated against monkeypox, possibly to include many men with HIV or those recently diagnosed with other sexually transmitted diseases.

Driving the discussion is a study released Thursday showing that a higher-than-expected share of monkeypox infections are in people with other sexually transmitted infections.

Dr. John T. Brooks, chief medical officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions monkeypox outbreak response, said the report represents a call to action.

Brooks told The Associated Press on Thursday that he expected vaccine recommendations to expand and that the White House, together with CDC, are working on a plan for what that will look like.

Currently, the CDC recommends the vaccine to people who are a close contact of someone who has monkeypox; people who know a sexual partner was diagnosed in the past two weeks; and gay or bisexual men who had multiple sexual partners in the last two weeks in an area with known virus spread.

Shots are also recommended for health care workers at high risk of exposure.

The vast majority of monkeypox cases are in men who have sex with men who reported close contact with an infected person during sex. But the new CDC report suggested infections in people with HIV and other STDs may be a bigger issue then previously realized.

The report looked at about 2,000 monkeypox cases from four states and four cities from mid-May to late July.

It found 38% of those with monkeypox infections had been diagnosed with HIV, far higher than their share of the population among men who have sex with men.

The study also found that 41% of monkeypox patients had been diagnosed with an STD in the preceding year. And about 10% of those patients had been diagnosed with three or more different STDs in the prior year.

There were racial differences. More than 60% of Black Americans with monkeypox had HIV, compared with 41% of Hispanic people, 28% of whites and 22% of Asians.

Jason Farley, an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, said men of color who have sex with men should be at the front of the line for monkeypox vaccine doses. Within those racial and ethnic groups, the next priority should be anyone living with HIV or was recently diagnosed with a STD, he said.

The study has several limitations, including that the data may not be nationally representative, the authors said.

Brooks said the findings could lead to vaccines being recommended for people with recent STD infections, people with HIV, people taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications to prevent HIV infection and, possibly, prostitutes.

Discussions of expanding eligibility will have to take into account supply of the two-dose vaccine. And any substantial expansion of monkeypox vaccination recommendations may also be subject to review by CDCs outside vaccine advisers, health officials say.

Also on Thursday, the CDC sent a letter to state and local health departments that said federal funds for HIV and STD prevention can also now be used against monkeypox. Cases in the U.S. seem to be declining, officials say.

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The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.


Continued here: US may expand monkeypox vaccine eligibility to men with HIV
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