U.S. May Expand Monkeypox Vaccine Eligibility To Men With HIV

 

The United States officials are considering to broaden recommendations on who gets vaccinated against the monkeypox virus, possibly to include men with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) or those diagnosed with other sexually transmitted diseases.

This comes after a study released on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that a higher-than-expected share of Monkeypox infections is mostly seen in people with other sexually transmitted infections.

Dr John T. Brooks, chief medical officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Monkeypox outbreak response, said that the report represents a “call to action” due to risk.

The chief medical officer said that he expected vaccine recommendations to expand after seeing the latest reports on Monkeypox. He also revealed that “the White House, along with CDC, is working on a plan to curb the Monkeypox virus.”

The CDC has recommended the monkeypox vaccine to people who are in close contact with someone who has monkeypox; people who know a sexual partner was diagnosed with the disease in the last two weeks; and gay or bisexual men who had multiple sexual partners in the last two weeks.

The new CDC report said that infections in people with HIV and other STDs can be a bigger issue. The report analysed around 2,000 Monkeypox cases from four states and four cities from mid-May to late July. The researchers found that 38 per cent of patients with Monkeypox infections had been diagnosed with HIV, far higher than their share of the population among men who have sex with other men. The study also revealed that around 41 per cent of Monkeypox patients had been diagnosed with an STD in the same year.

Last month, the US reported the first death of a person diagnosed with monkeypox in Texas. The CDC also confirmed cases of monkeypox across all 50 states.