Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Officials Study Role Of Monkeypox In Second US Death
CBS News: Second Person In The U.S. Dies After Contracting Monkeypox
Health authorities are now investigating what role monkeypox may have played in the death of a person diagnosed with the virus, officials in California said Thursday. This is the second known person to die in the U.S. after contracting the virus during the current outbreak. The announcement comes less than a month after officials in Texas confirmed they were investigating a potential death from the virus. (Tin, 9/8)
Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Investigating Death Of Resident Diagnosed With MPX
Los Angeles County health officials are investigating the death of a person diagnosed with MPX to see whether the viral illness was a primary cause of mortality. An autopsy still needs to be conducted, and “it does take time for those results to come back. So it may be as soon as a few days, or it may take a few weeks,” according to Dr. Rita Singhal, chief medical officer for the county’s Department of Public Health. (Lin II, Money and Toohey, 9/8)
On monkeypox and HIV —
AP: US May Expand Monkeypox Vaccine Eligibility To Men With HIV
U.S. officials are considering broadening recommendations for who gets vaccinated against monkeypox, possibly to include many men with HIV or those recently diagnosed with other sexually transmitted diseases. Driving the discussion is a study released Thursday showing that a higher-than-expected share of monkeypox infections are in people with other sexually transmitted infections. (Stobbe, 9/8)
CNBC: HIV Positive People Hospitalized With Monkeypox More Often, CDC Says
People living with HIV who have monkeypox are hospitalized more than twice as often as other patients diagnosed with the rapidly spreading virus, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a report published Thursday, the CDC found that 38% of nearly 2,000 people diagnosed with monkeypox between May and July were living with HIV. Among 1,300 monkeypox patients with more detailed clinical data, 8% of HIV-positive individuals were hospitalized compared with 3% of people without HIV infection. (Kimball, 9/8)
CIDRAP: HIV, Earlier STIs Common In US Monkeypox Patients
Surveillance data from eight US jurisdictions found a high prevalence of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among people with monkeypox, a research team based at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today. In other developments, scientists from Europe today reported finding viable monkeypox viruses in anal and urethral samples from monkeypox patients, adding more evidence for a sexual transmission route, and the US government took more steps to expand testing and explore the efficacy of different vaccination strategies. (Schnirring, 9/8)
Also —
CIDRAP: Study Raises Questions On Dose-Sparing Monkeypox Vaccine Approach
Late last week a notable group of Dutch researchers published a preprint study on the neutralizing antibodies produced by two subcutaneous doses of Bavarian Nordic's monkeypox vaccine, Jynneos (MVA), and it indicated the dose-sparing strategy might not yield a very strong immune response. (Soucheray, 9/8)
