As Cases Drop, Mpox Public Emergency Will End In February
The Department of Health and Human Service plans to not renew the public health emergency status of mpox after January 31, now that case numbers have fallen. In other news, a new mRNA vaccine candidate has also been developed. But experts say it's not "mission accomplished" yet.
NPR:
Mpox, Once Named Monkeypox, Won't Be Renewed As Public Health Emergency In 2023
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it would not renew mpox, the virus formerly known as monkeypox, as a public health emergency after January 31, 2023, following a drop in cases. (Ahn, 12/3)
The Washington Post:
Biden Administration Poised To Lift Monkeypox Emergency Declaration
“Given the low number of cases today, HHS does not expect that it needs to renew the emergency declaration when it ends on January 31, 2023,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “But we won’t take our foot off the gas — we will continue to monitor the case trends closely and encourage all at-risk individuals to get a free vaccine.” (Nirappil, 12/2)
In other mpox updates —
USA Today:
Is Monkeypox Still In The US? Cases Drop Amid Vaccine. What's Next?
"The outbreak has been contained, but it's not 'mission accomplished' because the virus is still here," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. (Weintraub, 12/3)
News-Medical.net:
Researchers Develop A Polyvalent Lipid Nanoparticle MRNA Vaccine Against Monkeypox Virus
In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* server, researchers developed a messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology-based vaccine candidate against the monkeypox virus (MPXV) and evaluated its immunogenicity in animal models. (Mathur, 12/5)
