CDC Eyes Monkeypox Vaccine for Kids as Outbreak Spreads

U.S. health officials are looking to expand use of the monkeypox vaccine for children as the outbreak continues to spread across the U.S. and in countries around the world, with more than 3,300 cases reported globally. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is developing a protocol aimed at allowing use of Bavarian Nordic A/S’s Jynneos vaccine in children, if needed, according to documents prepared for a meeting of agency advisers that took place this week. The vaccine is currently cleared for use in adults and is considered safer than Emergent BioSolutions Inc.’s ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine, which can also be used against monkeypox. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The current monkeypox outbreak has mainly been seen among men who have sex with men, but concern about other populations is growing as infections increase in the U.S. and 44 other countries. Domestic spread is increasing, with almost half of infections acquired locally rather than linked to travel abroad, according to the CDC documents. Monkeypox is spread through intimate contact with someone that’s contagious, such as touching infectious sores, as well sharing materials such as clothes or bed sheets. The Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday it would expand monkeypox testing to five of the country’s largest commercial labs in order to better monitor its spread after experts warned the U.S. wasn’t doing enough to determine how widespread the ou...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Disease healthscienceclimate wire Source Type: news