Good News: The Mpox Vax Can Now Be Shipped In Freeze-Dried Powder Form -- But Spread Continues... Next Pandemic, Ahead?

It seems that unlike prior (pre-2022) outbreaks -- when the virus mostly skipped solely from animals to a very contained number of humans, Mpox Clade 1b is increasingly like an STD -- transfered over and over, by intimate contact -- human to human. And with sex workers and their clients both regularly transversing the world, this is a particularly fraught population within which to fight such a contagious viral infection reservoir.

And while being able to transport the powdered vaccine stock overland (in the resulting high temperatures) is a vast leap forward, the public education issues are daunting -- doubly so, with Tangerine/Musk ending USAID on these dimensions. Malnourished children in Africa are at very high risk as well, due to weakened immune systems. Here's the latest, with SciTech Daily summarizing a Nature.com letter:

. . .Researchers are also concerned because clade I viruses are thought to be more aggressive. These viruses appear to be accumulating specific genetic mutations – driven by enzymes in the human body – that may be changing viral properties, so the longer these viruses circulate amongst us, the higher the chances these mutations help mpox adapt to humans.

Although mpox was once mainly seen in Central Africa, the virus caused an outbreak worldwide in 2022 and is now causing outbreaks in multiple sub-Saharan countries. While it currently affects adults the most, the researchers stress that it has the potential to spread among other groups, including children, a group at greater risk of serious illness. . . .

Unlike smallpox, mpox has an animal reservoir, meaning it can’t be fully eradicated. The authors warn that unless international action is taken now – including investment in point-of-care testing and new treatments – mpox will continue to re-emerge and threaten global health. . . .

Now you know -- and onward, to go vote in the primaries, locally. Smile.

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