Monkeypox (Mpox) is a global health emergency. Health agencies around the world, including the World Health Organization (WHO), are appealing to all people to continue taking preventive measures against this infectious disease. This infection, which started in African countries, has now reached India including the US-UK. The first infected person was detected here on September 8.
Experts say that at present people in India do not need to worry or fear much about the infection, however, it is important to take care of protective measures. It is worth noting that this infection can occur due to close contact with an infected person, having sexual relations, or contact with body fluids. At present, there is no specific medicine for its treatment. Some vaccines have been recognized and research is going on about some.
Meanwhile, scientists have found a vaccine to be particularly effective in studies regarding the prevention of monkeypox. Researchers hope that this can help in controlling cases of infection.
Chickenpox vaccine also effective in monkeypox
Researchers found that the vaccine used so far to prevent smallpox disease - Bavarian Nordic A / S, can also prove to be effective in preventing monkeypox infection to a large extent. According to a study conducted in Ontario, Canada, this vaccine is about 58% protective against monkeypox infection.
Reports say that this vaccine probably helped a lot in preventing the monkeypox outbreak in the year 2022. In such a situation, experts have expressed hope that benefits can be gained by using it to prevent the increasing infection this time.
Its effectiveness was seen in 2022
These vaccines were provided to gay and bisexual men in many places from June to the end of October 2022. After vaccination, a decline in the rate of infection was recorded in those places. It is worth noting that the risk of monkeypox has been seen more in bisexual and gay people, so these people were provided vaccines first. Scientists found that it was more affected during the global outbreak spread by the Clade IIb strain of monkeypox virus in the year 2022-23.
Health experts are trying to assess the effectiveness of Bavarian Nordic's MVA-BN vaccine (also known as Imvammune in Canada and Geneos in the US) and older vaccinations.
What do scientists say?
Scientists said that this vaccine was developed to prevent smallpox. Last month, a global health emergency arose in Central Africa due to the strain Clade IB of monkeypox, which is considered potentially more dangerous. However, this vaccine has not been randomized or controlled trialed yet.
In the study published in the BMJ journal, scientists from the Canadian Vaccination Research Network said, "Even in the absence of clinical trials, our findings strengthen the evidence that MVA-BN is effective in preventing ampox infection and should be made available and accessible to at-risk communities. Previous studies have shown its effectiveness rate ranging from 36% to 86% in different populations.
Protection can also be provided with a shot.
Scientists say that two doses of this vaccine are considered more effective, although giving a single shot can also help reduce the outbreak of infection. The researchers said, "Given the moderate effectiveness of a single dose, it may be easier to achieve high coverage with both doses. This can be important in preventing and managing the ongoing infection globally. Clinical trials of these vaccines are being started so that their effectiveness can be widely assessed.
(PC: Freepik)
