Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Monkeypox Antiviral Drug Tpoxx To Enter Human Testing
Bloomberg: Siga Monkeypox Antiviral To Undergo First Human Tests In UK
Siga Technologies Inc.’s antiviral Tpoxx, which has mainly been shown to fight monkeypox in animal studies, will undergo human testing by University of Oxford researchers as countries look for ways to tackle a growing outbreak with limited vaccine supply. (Lyu, 8/23)
CIDRAP: Trials For Monkeypox Antiviral, Fractional Vaccine Dosing Launch
As countries contend with more and more monkeypox cases, UK and US officials have announced the launch of clinical trials to gauge how effective the antiviral drug tecovirimat, known as Tpoxx, is for treating the disease, and to establish how protective intradermal fractional doses of the Jynneos vaccine are against monkeypox. In addition, Brazil has confirmed 77 cases of the poxvirus in children, and Spain becomes the latest country to initiate fractional vaccine dosing. (Soucheray, 8/23)
What are the side effects of the Jynneos vaccine? —
USA Today: Monkeypox Vaccine Side Effects: What's That Lump And Should You Worry?
If you've gotten vaccinated for monkeypox, you may be familiar with "the lump." Ever since the viral outbreak reached the U.S. this summer, many people have taken to social media to report side effects of the Jynneos vaccine, which can be injected intradermally (into the skin) or through the more traditional subcutaneous method (below the skin). (Ryan, 8/23)
More on the spread of monkeypox —
Houston Chronicle: Harris County Child Presumed To Have Monkeypox Was False Positive
The Houston-area child who had previously tested positive for monkeypox does not have the virus, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said Tuesday at a news conference, during which she also revealed expanded vaccine eligibility. (Gill, 8/23)
CBS News: What Should Schools Do About Monkeypox? New CDC Guidelines Weigh In
Schools and child care centers generally do not need to take extra steps to curb the spread of monkeypox, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. It advises that they can rely on "their everyday operational guidance" to do things like ensure handwashing and clean surfaces, which help reduce the risk of potential cases from the outbreak this fall. (Tin, 8/23)
The New York Times: Why Experts Want To Rename Monkeypox
The stoning and poisoning of wild primates in Brazil is an especially lurid example of how an inaptly named disease can have real-world implications. Just as the so-called Spanish Flu of 1918 wasn’t born on the Iberian Peninsula, the spread of monkeypox has little to do with monkeys. In fact scientists say that rodents are the most likely animal reservoir for the virus, which is a cousin of smallpox that made its first recorded leap to humans decades ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But in 1958, when Danish scientists first identified the virus in a colony of lab monkeys, they decided to bestow the naming honor on their captive primates. (Jacobs, 8/23)
