Important Takeaways:
- India has confirmed its first case of a deadlier strain of mpox, which has raised alarm among health officials around the world over the rapid pace of its spread.
- The clade Ib strain of the virus was confirmed by health authorities in the southern state of Kerala after being detected last week in a 38-year-old man who had recently traveled to Dubai.
- Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and from infected animals. It can spread through close contact such as touching, kissing or sex, as well as through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing and needles, according to WHO.
- Symptoms include fever, rash, lesions, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy and enlarged lymph nodes.
- The virus is characterized by two genetic clades, I and II. A clade is a broad grouping of viruses that has evolved over decades. Clade II was responsible for a global outbreak that WHO also declared a global health emergency from July 2022 to May 2023. Clade Ib causes more severe disease.
- Authorities had identified 29 people who came into contact with the patient and they are now in self-quarantine, he said.
- Some 37 passengers on the flight from Dubai to Kerala and five other close contacts of the patient are being monitored, he added.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- The World Health Organization said Friday it has granted its first authorization for use of a vaccine against mpox in adults, calling it an important step toward fighting the disease in Africa.
- The approval of the vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic A/S means that donors like vaccines alliance Gavi and UNICEF can buy it. But supplies are limited because there’s only a single manufacturer.
- WHO also said it was creating an “access and allocation mechanism” to try to fairly distribute mpox tests, treatments and vaccines to the countries who need them most.
- WHO said that while it was not recommending the vaccine for those under 18, the shot may be used in infants, children and adolescents “in outbreak settings where the benefits of vaccination outweigh the potential risks.”
- The mpox vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic was previously authorized by numerous rich countries across Europe and North America during the global mpox outbreak in 2022. Millions of doses given to adults showed the vaccine helped slow the virus’ spread, but there is limited evidence of how it works in children.
- Officials at the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that nearly 70% of cases in Congo — the country hardest hit by mpox — are in children younger than 15, who also accounted for 85% of deaths.
- Overall, WHO said over 120 countries have confirmed more than 103,000 cases of mpox since the outbreak began two years ago. Its latest tally, as of Sunday, showed that 723 people in more than a dozen countries in Africa have died of the disease.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- The World Health Organization declared Wednesday that the increasing spread of mpox in Africa is a global health emergency, warning the virus might ultimately spill across international borders.
- WHO said there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in Africa this year, which already exceed last year’s figures.
- WHO’s emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. But the global response to previous declarations has been mixed.
- Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of mpox in a Congolese mining town that can kill up to 10% of people and may spread more easily.
- Like any infectious disease, the new form of mpox seen in Congo could cross borders — cases have already been identified in four other East African countries.
- Unlike COVID-19 or measles, mpox is not airborne and typically requires close, skin-to-skin contact to spread.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has never done anything like this before.
- Since the beginning of last year, mpox cases have been surging in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with children making up the majority of the 14,000 reported cases and 511 deaths so far in 2024.
- In the last couple weeks, there’s been a new and alarming development. Mpox has been detected in countries that have never previously identified cases.
- It is with past health emergencies in mind that Africa CDC is trying to move quickly and garner international support.
- The World Health Organization has also taken note of the evolving mpox situation. This week it announced that the group is convening an emergency committee to determine whether it will make a similar declaration to that of Africa CDC, designating the situation a public health emergency of international concern. “The committee will meet as soon as possible,” says WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
- There’s concern about mpox in the U.S. as well. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an mpox health alert this week.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- As the LGBTQ+ community gears up for Pride celebrations this month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging more people – particularly some gay and bisexual men – to get the Mpox vaccine.
- The US Department of Health and Human Services plans to be at dozens of Pride and community events across the country to remind people that Mpox is still a problem in the United States
- According to recent case reports, 90% of those who got Mpox in the US during this outbreak who reported their sexual orientation were men who identified as gay or bisexual.
- Health organizations will want to emphasize that mpox vaccines provide not only protection but real peace of mind.
- “You don’t have to be worried about being in contact with people if you’ve been vaccinated,” Hujdich said, “So it gives you the freedom to enjoy and be proud during Pride.”
Read the original article by clicking here.
The American Heritage Dictionary “plagues”
1. A highly infectious, usually fatal, epidemic disease; a pestilence.
2. A virulent, infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (syn. Pasteurella pestis) and is transmitted primarily by the bite of fleas from an infected rodent, especially a rat. In humans it occurs in bubonic form, marked by lymph node enlargement, and in pneumonic form, marked by infection of the lungs, and can progress to septicemia.
3. A widespread affliction or calamity seen as divine retribution.
Important Takeaways:
- China reports a five-fold increase in Mpox cases; 96% patients are male
- As per a statement by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 96 per cent of the patients were male and reported sexual activity with another man.
- As per the Chinese CDC, while in June the cases stood at 106, in July, the count reached a high of 491. However, as per a Bloomberg report, there were no severe cases or deaths from the virus, that until recently was known as Monkeypox.
- In late July, the agency, as per the report, asked its local branches to improve access to tests and treatment, mobilize volunteers and social organizations to educate “priority groups” — vulnerable groups including men who have sex with men — about Mpox.
- The largest concentration of cases have been reported from Guangdong province and Beijing. However, last month, other areas have also reported quite a few cases. Shanghai and Western Sichuan province each reported 25 Mpox cases.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Luke 21:11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
Important Takeaways:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning of the potential resurgence of Mpox, formerly known as Monkeypox, ahead of summer gatherings.
- The agency revealed there were 12 confirmed and one probable case of mpox reported in the Chicago area between April 17 and May 5.
- As of May 10, more than 30,000 cases have been reported in the US, according to the CDC.
- The outbreak had a peak of about 460 cases a day in August 2022.
- Not everyone who has the virus will get a rash.
- Mpox is rarely fatal, but some people can become very ill.
Read the original article by clicking here.
