The good news about mpox on the African continent is some people are getting vaccinated. The bad news is there aren’t enough vaccines, and the disease is spreading to more communities across the continent. Epidemiologists and other experts warn that diagnosed cases are only a small part of likely infections. Al Jazeera (Qatar) reported last week a vaccination campaign began in the city of Goma targeting healthcare workers first. On Friday, the DRC Ministry of Public Health warned that the vaccine campaign would be limited due to few resources. So far, only 265,000 doses are available. ‘As you can imagine, in a country of 100 million people, we’re not going to solve the problem with 265,000 doses,’ Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba told a news conference…” The latest WHO data shows, “16 [African] countries have reported 7,535 confirmed cases, including 32 deaths.
As Zimbabwe reported its first two diagnosed cases, The Herald (Zimbabwe) via AllAfrica warns that if cases rise “it could put a strain on the country’s health system” as well as causing confusion and fear in communities. Journalist Rumbidzayi Zinyuke argues, “Community-led awareness and prevention could be a key response mechanism. Communities can play a crucial role in raising awareness about mpox and minimising the spread of the disease. It therefore requires authorities to prioritise educating and sharing the correct information with communities. Because communities play a critical role in curbing the spread of mpox and mitigating its impact.”
If You Are in a Hurry
- Read CIDRAP on the state of the Marburg outbreak on Rwanda and a new Phase 2 vaccine study.
- Read The Telegraph on a new report from the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board warning of heightened pandemic threats. Then read the report.
- Read Heidi Larson and colleagues in a BMJ analysis of the role of trust in preparing for future health shocks like pandemics.
- Read The New York Times on Russian efforts to undermine anti-malaria programs in West Africa.
- Read Science on a new study that looks at why COVID vaccine protection wanes quickly and may provide clues for better vaccines.
WHO Approves Mpox Vaccine for Adolescents
Reuters (UK) reports, “The World Health Organization said on Monday it had approved Bavarian Nordic's mpox vaccine for adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, an age group considered especially vulnerable to outbreaks of the disease that has triggered global concern. The WHO said in a statement that it gave the Jynneos vaccine prequalification for adolescents on Oct. 8…. Children, adolescents and those with weakened immune systems have been particularly vulnerable to mpox…”
Mpox in Pregnancy
Medscape (US) reports, “A new mini-review in the New England Journal of Medicine reports on the risks, vertical transmission, prevention, and treatment of the monkeypox virus (MPXV) in pregnancy. Pregnant women are at risk for more severe disease than the average adult, and vertical transmission to foetus or neonate can occur in an estimated 50% of cases, causing premature birth or death of embryo. To prevent MPXV infection, the WHO recommends use of one specific smallpox vaccine. An agent to treat an MPXV infection is available but with limited data on pregnancy and lactation.” Read the NEJM mini-review.
Mpox Vaccine Conspiracies Target LGBTQ+ People
Doctoral researcher Helen McCarthy writes in The Conversation (Australia) that many anti-vax conspiracy theories target LGBTQ+ people. “One common anti-vaxx conspiracy theory is “vaccine shedding”. This is the idea that vaccinated people can harm the unvaccinated through any kind of contact. One online conspiracy states the mpox vaccine is particularly prone to shedding. Gay and bisexual men, then, are portrayed as dangerous whether they’re vaccinated or not.”
Marburg Outbreak in Rwanda Continues as More Experimental Vaccine Arrives
CIDRAP (US) reports, “The Sabin Vaccine Institute has delivered 1,000 more doses of its investigational Marburg virus vaccine to Rwanda, following an initial shipment of 700 doses…. The immunization campaign is part of a phase 2 open-label trial sponsored by the Rwanda Biomedical Centre. The single-dose vaccine is being given according to a clinical trial that been reviewed by Rwandan ethics and regulatory authorities, Sabin said in a statement…. In updates over the past 3 days, Rwanda’s health ministry reported one new case and another death, raising the outbreak total to 62 infections, 15 of them fatal. Twenty six people have now recovered from their illnesses.”
Scientific American (US) looks at how the Rwandan government is responding to the outbreak. In addition to the Sabin vaccine trial, “with support from…. Africa CDC and other partners, the Rwandan government is implementing rigorous testing, contact tracing and quarantine measures to contain the outbreak.” Rwanda has a fairly robust genetic sequencing capacity and Minister of Health Sabin Nsanzimana says, Rwanda’s “genomic sequencing infrastructure…. Will help us track the virus more effectively. While we already have a solid foundation, our teams are currently prioritizing case identification to ensure we capture every positive case. As we make progress, we will begin sharing genomic data that will provide deeper insights into the outbreak.”
New Report Warns of Heightened Pandemic Threat
A news release from the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board warns, “Recent outbreaks of Marburg virus, mpox and the latest strain of avian influenza (H5N1) are a stark reminder of the world’s vulnerability to pandemics. In 2024 alone, 17 outbreaks of dangerous diseases have already occurred. Each new outbreak exposes fault lines in the existing pandemic prevention architecture and global readiness to respond to disease outbreaks…. [The report] outlines 15 key drivers of pandemic risk, categorized into five distinct groups: social, technological, environmental, economic, and political.” Read the report.
The Telegraph (US) says the report warns, “The next pandemic will probably ‘catch the world napping’ despite all the advances made during COVID…. ‘Changing patterns of life and the ongoing encroachment of human activities into natural environments’ are ‘altering the global risk landscape and making the emergence of new pathogens more likely,’ the report’s authors state…. Achieving a heightened level of global preparedness requires mitigating those aspects of modern life like urbanisation or inequity that the report calls risk drivers.”
A Call for African Health Sovereignty
Thelma Chioma Thomas-Abeku writes in an opinion piece in All Africa (South Africa), “Africa stands at a pivotal moment, where the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as Ebola and the current mpox outbreak have shown the need for stronger, independent African healthcare systems. Africa must take a more proactive role in safeguarding its health security to ensure that no African is left behind and ultimately achieve the Africa we want.” She calls for the African Union to “prioritize investing in the New Public Health Order (NPHO)…. By building agile health systems, strengthening local institutions, and investing in human capital, Africa can better prepare for the future and safeguard its population from pandemics and other health threats.”
New Human Avian Flu Cases in the US
CIDRAP (US) reports there are six confirmed cases of avian flu among farm workers in the US state of California. “California’s flurry of human cases is occurring amid an ongoing surge of outbreaks affecting the state’s dairy farms…. The new confirmations push the national total of H5 cases this year to 20. All but one are related to contact with sick cows and poultry. Health officials are still investigating the source of a human H5 infection in Missouri and whether illness symptoms in seven contacts, one household member and six healthcare workers.” In some good news, “the CDC shared the latest findings from genetic sequencing, which so far show no worrying changes.”
Medical Xpress (Isle of Man) reports, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating whether the US stockpile of bird flu vaccines is still well matched to the virus after discovering recent mutations. The CDC said Friday it identified genetic changes present in the virus, known commonly as H5N1, after sequencing samples from three people with the infection in California…. Though no human-to-human transmission has been identified, the government has built a repository of 4.8 million vaccine doses in case the risk the virus poses increases. It aims to have 10 million within the first quarter of 2025. It's also supporting Moderna Inc. in its effort to develop an mRNA bird flu vaccine.”
Preparing for Future Shocks
A special BMJ (UK) issue looks at “priorities for the research community in a post-covid context to help the UK better prepare for future health shocks of all kinds and to mitigate their impact on healthcare practice and health outcomes.” In an analysis Heidi Larson and colleagues look at what we know and need to know about trust and health crises, noting “The next health shock might not be a respiratory infection, but trust will be vital to the response…. There is no simple list of research gaps to better understand, measure, or predict the power of trust and how to nurture and sustain trust in the context of health shocks. If we are to make any quantum shift in research on trust, it will need a dynamic systems approach, particularly crucial in the context of a health shock with its evolving uncertainties and multiple effects across systems and over time. Trust is situational and multi-dimensional. It is fluid beyond dyadic relations, temporal, and volatile. Research on trust—particularly as it pertains to preparedness for future shocks—needs to focus on not only who trusts what, where, and why, but also on how those trust insights inform the cooperation that is fundamental to any crisis response and recovery.”
Russian Propaganda Takes Aim at African Malaria Programs
The New York Times (US) reports, “The scientists sifting through thousands of genetically modified mosquito larvae in a laboratory in Burkina Faso were trying to stop the spread of malaria, one of the biggest killers on the African continent. But in the pro-Russian propaganda telling of their work, the scientists, helped by funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, were not protecting local people against malaria, they were infecting them…. A recent pro-Russian disinformation operatioN is targeting US-funded health care programs in Africa. The attacks come at a time when ambitious initiatives and vaccines are being rolled out on a continent shaken by several epidemics, including a deadly outbreak of mpox. The apparent aim is to undermine public trust and bolster Russia’s steady attempt to weaken Western interests in Africa, according to US and European officials.”
Long COVID Updates
CIDRAP (US) reports on a study published in the journal Brain which “demonstrated that COVID-19 infections can damage the brainstem, the brain’s ‘control center.’” Study author Catarina Rua is quoted: “"The fact that we see abnormalities in the parts of the brain associated with breathing strongly suggests that long-lasting symptoms are an effect of inflammation in the brainstem following COVID-19 infection. These effects are over and above the effects of age and gender, and are more pronounced in those who had had severe COVID-19." Read the study.
COVID Infections May be Causing More Diabetes Cases Among Kids
CIDRAP (US) reports, “An observational study of 614,000 US patients suggests a higher risk of new-onset type 2 diabetes (T2D) after COVID-19 than after other respiratory infections in patients aged 10 to 19 years…. While the excess risk for new-onset T2D after COVID-19 infection is modest overall (4.8 per 10,000 in the general population but 17.0 per 10,000 in overweight or obese children), the authors said it represents many patients at a high cost.” Read the JAMA study.
New Clues to Why COVID Vaccine Protection Wanes Quickly
Science reports, “scientists have learned that a little-known type of immune cell in the bone marrow may play a major role” in the quick waning of protection from vaccination or COVID infection. The Nature Medicine study “found that people who received repeated doses of vaccine, and in some cases also became infected with SARS-CoV-2, largely failed to make special antibody-producing cells called long-lived plasma cells… The study authors say their finding may indicate a way to make better COVID-19 vaccines: by altering how they present the spike surface protein of SARS-CoV-2 to a person’s immune cells.” Read the study.
Cholera and Dengue Cases Rise in Sudan
Xinhau (China) reports increases in both cholera and dengue in the war-torn country. “The marked increase in cholera and dengue cases is part of a broader health crisis in Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has raged since April 2023. Other epidemic diseases, including malaria and measles, have also spread.” |
