UNICEF yesterday announced the launch of a $58.8 million appeal to support the mpox response in six African countries where children are most affected by the disease.
In other developments, the United Kingdom detailed its response plan, including buying more vaccine, and US officials spelled out a research agenda for the virus, including exploring ways to maximize vaccine doses.
Kids make up more than half of cases in some African nations
The focus of UNICEF’s appeal are children in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Central African Republic, all of which are experiencing rising clade 1 mpox activity.
UNICEF said 60% of the nearly 22,000 suspected and confirmed mpox cases in Africa this year are in children younger than 15 years old and that 80% of the more than 700 mpox deaths have involved kids. So far, the DRC is the only country to report fatal infections in children.
UK shores up vaccine supply, shares response plan
In developments outside of Africa, the United Kingdom’s government yesterday announced that it has ordered 150,000 more Bavarian Nordic mpox vaccine doses to help the country prepare for any clade 1 cases that are detected in the country.Â
So far two clade 1 cases have recently been found outside of Africa, one in Sweden and the other in Thailand. Global health officials, however, are on high alert for imported cases in people who have traveled to outbreak countries.
In a statement yesterday, the government said it is at the forefront of the international response and has provided critical support to the DRC. Wes Sterling, the UK’s secretary of state for social care, said, “No cases of clade 1 mpox have been detected in the UK, but we are taking steps to ensure the country is prepared with a robust vaccination programme that protects those who may be at high risk.”
Risk groups targeted for vaccination include men who have sex with men, certain healthcare workers, health and humanitarian workers traveling to affected countries, and close contacts of confirmed cases.
In a related development, the UK Health Security Agency (HSA) recently posted a technical briefing on mpox, which spelled out possible scenarios for a clade 1b mpox outbreak in the country, ranging from incursions and small clusters to community transmission.
It also laid out risk levels, noting that it currently considers the risk of importation as low to medium. The HSA also detailed its border response options, some of which are already in effect.
NIH unveils mpox research agenda
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) today unveiled the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) mpox research agenda, which focuses on four main areas. They include understanding the biology of all clades including how the virus is transmits and how the immune system responds, how to stretch the vaccine supply, advancing treatments, and improving diagnostics.
