Kenya Is Eagerly Awaiting More GAVI-Supplied Mpox Vaccine Stock: This Is The Reality On The Ground Along All Major Truck Routes...

As ever, it is two steps ahead -- one, back. The logistical challenges, as well as the education / public awareness ones. . . are formidable.

But there is good news -- it seems the public awareness campaign is -- in the main -- being well-received, and impacting behaviors, in the targeted audiences. Here's that, overnight -- from Kenya, this time:

. . .According to Dr Pius Mutuku, a biomedical epidemiologist with Kenya’s Ministry of Health, the 13 affected counties are – not coincidentally – placed along an international trunk road used to ferry cargo from Kenya’s Mombasa port to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, as well as to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where mpox is endemic. Truck drivers plying the route are at heightened risk of exposure to mpox, due to interactions at nodes of interchange, such as with porters unloading cargo, or with commercial sex workers. . . .

And in Kenya’s Bungoma County, a man living with HIV recently succumbed to mpox, after missing doses of his antiretroviral therapy (ART) medicines. In Kenya, 18% of confirmed mpox cases are people living with HIV.

“When mpox infects someone with untreated HIV, the risk of severe disease skyrockets. But our data show that patients who adhere to ART, typically avoid the worst outcomes. This underscores the life-saving power of sustained HIV treatment among mpox patients,” Dr Mutuku explained. . . .

Now you know -- onward.

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