New Data Suggest Mpox Clade 1b May Be More Likely To Afflict Younger Women Than Young Men...

It is particularly sad, and pathologically ironic that the very fact the the WHO declared smallpox eradicated -- some 25 years ago now (and thus stopped vaccinating millions of kids, in the less-developed world, for smallpox). . . is in at least some small measure now likely a contributing factor to children (girls especially) contracting Mpox -- in this 2024 outbreak.

It seems increasingly clear that older people (who were themselves vaccinated against smallpox as children) have some acquired immunity to this strain of Clade 1b Mpox. That is. . . a rough -- and jagged lil' -- pill to swallow, now all these years later.

Here's the latest, via Bloomberg's reporting (reg. req'd.), this afternoon:

. . .Girls and young women may be more susceptible to an infectious subvariant of the virus that causes mpox that has spread from Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring countries, a study showed.

Of 154 cases that tested positive for mpox in Burundi, which borders eastern Congo, from July 3 to Sept. 9 the median age was 9.5 years, researchers said in a study released Oct. 17 in the scientific journal Eurosurveillance. The average age of girls who were infected was six years old, while boys were 17.5 years old, the data showed. . . .

Indeed, we still have a long way to go, to get ahead of this outbreak. Vaccinations will be key, now. Be excellent now, and always -- to one another.

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