Why the latest MPOX outbreak has health experts alarmed | Wilnesh News

The escalating MPOX outbreak has alarmed some health experts, who warn that the latest strain of the virus could spread faster and be more deadly than the outbreak in early 2022.

The World Health Organization declared MPOX a global public health emergency last week after the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) spread to neighboring countries.

Since the new outbreak began, cases have been detected in MPOX non-endemic countries such as Sweden, Pakistan and Thailand, but it is unclear which strain of the virus has not yet been detected in some of these countries.

Mpox is a viral infection It spreads through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Although usually mild, it can be fatal.

Dr. Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization’s European director, said on Tuesday that the outbreak was “not the coronavirus” and could be stopped through international cooperation.

But health experts have warned that the “many unknowns” surrounding the latest outbreak, especially new sub-variants, could make it harder to control.

“With the recent emergence of Clade 1b, there are many unknowns that need to be addressed,” explain Trudie Lang is Professor of Global Health Studies and Director of the Global Health Network at the University of Oxford.

“There is growing evidence of differences in transmission and symptoms; such as more common transmission from person to person and from mother to baby during pregnancy,” she said.

There are broadly two types of mpox, called clade, with the latest outbreak strain identified as clade 1. It appears to spread more easily and has a higher mortality rate.

Jonas Albarnaz, a researcher at the Pirbright Institute who specializes in poxviruses, said a newly discovered clade 1b subvariant is particularly common in younger people and appears to be Sexual network communication.

However, he noted that more data is needed to understand its transmission dynamics and “to inform control strategies.”

Clade 1 is known to cause more severe disease in young childrenpregnant women and immunocompromised people. This has accelerated outbreaks in some countries where health conditions are more common and health care systems are poorer.

“Because MPOX disease is more severe in immunocompromised individuals, it is also concerning that the current outbreak is occurring in an area where HIV infection rates are relatively high but access to antiretroviral drugs is difficult,” explain Brian Ferguson is an associate professor of immunology at the University of Cambridge.

Ongoing conflicts in parts of Africa – such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where large numbers of displaced people have been moved to refugee camps – have also worsened sanitary conditions and accelerated the spread of the epidemic.

So far this year, the Democratic Republic of Congo has reported more than 15,000 outbreaks and at least 537 deaths. To the World Health Organizationmore cases were reported elsewhere.

Ferguson said more cases were likely to be discovered in the coming days and weeks due to a lack of control measures to prevent the virus from spreading from one country to another. He also said that we had not learned from the previous outbreak, which was declared a public health emergency in July 2022 and then rescinded in May 2023.

“The lack of activity during this period led to what may now become a new global epidemic. More efforts should have been made to produce vaccines and distribute them to affected areas, but this did not happen,” he said.

It comes after the company submitted data to the European Union’s drug regulator on Friday to expand the use of its MPOX vaccine in teenagers.

CEO Paul Chaplin She told CNBC at the time that getting approval for teenagers ages 12 to 17 was critical in dealing with the outbreak of the latest strain of the virus.