US health officials say that there are effective vaccines ready in the country to treat citizens that might be infected with the surging monkeypox disease.
Smallpox Vaccines for Monkeypox Treatment
University of North Carolina School of Medicine's microbiology and immunology specialist Blossom Damania explained in an NBC News report that the US government has a stash of monkeypox vaccines.
Monkeypox is a serious condition that requires attention from the mass, but despite the effects of the illness, people do not need to panic, Damania continued.
Today, the US government has two distinct smallpox vaccines stored to prevent an outbreak. These vaccines were already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The doses are also considered part of the Strategic National Stockpile of the country, which would be utilized in certain levels of national emergency.
The monkeypox virus has similar features to the seasonal smallpox disease. Although there is a chance that both vaccines would work against the rising monkeypox cases, only one, particularly the Jynneos, was approved by the FDA for anti-monkeypox use.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explained Monday that over a thousand doses of the Jynneos vaccine are already available for those who had contact with the infected individuals.
A separate, larger smallpox vaccine stored by the government, called ACAM2000, scales to over 100 million.
The FDA also approved the utility of additional therapeutics called TPOXX and Tembexa against the smallpox disease.
Arizona State University's Biodesign Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines, and Virotherapy director Grant McFadden said that the drugs already approved for smallpox are still not available to treat monkeypox.
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However, McFadden added that numerous studies related to the approval of these vaccines yielded stunning results against the monkeypox virus in monkeys.
FDA said that one of two smallpox therapeutics, specifically the TPOXX, was included in the national stockpile of anti-monkeypox vaccines.
Monkeypox 'Less Challenging' Than COVID
Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development co-director and Baylor College of Medicine National School of Tropical Medicine dean Peter Hotez said that the control over the monkeypox outbreak should be far less challenging than what we experienced with COVID-19, as there are already interventions developed ahead of time against this emerging virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the detected monkeypox cases in the US and Europe in the past reached only a one percent fatality rate. Smallpox, on the other hand, has a deadly form that can kill 30 percent of infected people.
The Bavarian Nordic's CEO and president, Paul Chaplin, said that their company has over a million doses of Jynneos liquid frozen and stored in the US and Europe combined. The firm, the developer of the said vaccine, said that the US government signed a contract with them to create 13 million doses of freeze-dried formulas in the coming years.
Chaplin said that the contract was completely coincidental with the recent events.
Jynneos vaccines contain modified, non-replicating vaccinia virus that works against monkeypox and smallpox.
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