Article by Lalita Panicker, Consulting Editor, Views and Editor, Insight, Hindustan Times, New Delhi In what would be an unprecedented move, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) says the organization will “most likely” declare a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS) this week because of the rapid […]
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced this week it will start referring to monkeypox disease as “mpox” (pronounced “em-pox”) after the current name drew criticism as evoking racist stereotypes and inviting stigmatization. It is also a misnomer: The virus was first identified in laboratory monkeys but is most likely carried by rodents in the wild.
WHO to change name of monkeypox to mpox Read More »
When monkeypox cases in Europe began to decline this summer, researchers’ first question was: Is it real? Some worried that people might not be getting tested because of receding fears of the virus, coupled with strict isolation requirements for patients. “They might be reluctant to be confirmed and be told not to go out at
Monkeypox cases appear to be in decline Read More »
In a US government lab in Bethesda, Maryland, virologists plan to equip the strain of the monkeypox virus that spread globally this year, causing mostly rash and flulike symptoms, with genes from a second monkeypox strain that causes more serious illness. Then they’ll see whether any of the changes make the virus more lethal to
US virologists splice two monkeypox strains Read More »
A clinical trial to evaluate the antiviral drug tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX, in adults and children with monkeypox has begun in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The trial will evaluate the drug’s safety and its ability to mitigate monkeypox symptoms and prevent serious outcomes, including death. www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/monkeypox-treatment-trial-begins-democratic-republic-congo? The National Institute of Allergy
Clinical trial for monkeypox medication starts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Read More »
China reported its first case of monkeypox, imported to the giant municipality of Chongqing, as the country continues its long and arduous battle against Covid-19. The patient was immediately put into quarantine after arriving in Chongqing and the risk of an outbreak is low, the local health commission said in a statement on its website
China reports first case of monkeypox Read More »
A few years ago, researchers scoured the remains of 1867 people who lived between 30,000 and 150 years ago for genetic traces of variola, the virus that causes smallpox. In the teeth and bones of four Northern Europeans from the Viking era, they found enough DNA to reconstruct entire variola genomes. The sequenced viruses weren’t
Historical precedents for poxvirus mutation Read More »
Last week the United Kingdom became the first country to approve an updated COVID-19 booster directed at two different strains of the coronavirus. The “bivalent” booster, made by Moderna, will have the same dose of messenger RNA as the company’s prior boosters but will target both the original version of the coronavirus and the first
When monkeypox suddenly started spreading globally in May, the world was fortunate in one respect: A vaccine was available. MVA, originally developed by Bavarian Nordic as a smallpox vaccine, was already licensed for monkeypox in Canada and the United States (US). European Union (EU) regulators have since followed suit. Vaccine supplies are limited, and no
The Biden administration in the United States (US) has declared monkeypox a public health emergency. There have been more than 7,000 cases detected in the US, but that is likely an undercount. The majority of cases are concentrated in the gay and queer community, primarily among men who have sex with men. But the Centers
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