vaccine breakthroughs
WHO warns: monkeypox vaccination is not a panacea
A woman administers the monkeypox vaccine at an outpatient clinic in the United States. photo
© Seth Little/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/AP/dpa
Monkeypox continues to spread. 20 percent more infections were reported this week than in the previous week. The WHO now warns against considering vaccination as a panacea.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns against considering vaccination as a panacea after reports of vaccine breakthroughs in monkeypox. She stressed that there were no randomized controlled trials yet, but the reports suggested that one should not rely on vaccine protection alone, WHO monkeypox expert Rosamund Lewis said in Geneva on Wednesday.
In randomized controlled trials, participants are randomly divided into two groups and treated differently, for example one with the drug, the second with a placebo with no active ingredient. Conclusions about the effectiveness of a substance can only be drawn from the evaluation of such studies.
“We knew from the start that this vaccine would not be a panacea, that it would not meet all the expectations that were placed on it,” Lewis said. But that was also not to be expected. Vaccination breakthroughs are reported both in people who were vaccinated after possible contact with an infected person and in those who had been vaccinated as a precautionary measure.
Lewis stressed that vaccinates must wait at least two weeks after the second dose of vaccine to allow the compound to become fully effective before engaging in risky behavior. More than 90 percent of monkeypox cases are reported in men who have frequent sex with multiple partners. She called on these men to reduce their number of sexual partners and avoid group sex.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RK), adults who have not received a smallpox vaccination in the past are given primary immunization with two doses of Imvanex vaccine at least 28 days apart. While the first vaccine dose already provides good basic protection, the second dose serves to prolong the duration of the vaccine protection. One dose of vaccine is sufficient for people who have been vaccinated against smallpox in the past.
As of Wednesday, the WHO had reported more than 35,000 monkeypox cases from 92 countries. Twelve people came to us life. Within a week there were 7,500 cases, 20 percent more than in the previous week. According to the RKI, a total of 3,213 cases of monkeypox were reported in Germany.
RKI for vaccination