In his latest video, Dr. Seheult of MedCram discusses what happened to the Monkeypox virus epidemic. Monkeypox virus is now also known as Mpox virus. Data from Washington State for 2022 Monkeypox virus statistics shows that currently, there are almost no active cases. What is happening in the state of Washington is what is happening throughout most other states in the U.S. The cases of Monkeypox virus in the U.S. and the world overall are decreasing.
What is Monkeypox?
If you recall, Monkeypox virus is a virus that spreads primarily through close contact particularly of the genital area. It is concentrated in men who have sex with men. MedCram has an in-depth video on Monkeypox.
Who was getting Monkeypox?
Review of the cases in Washington showed most of them concentrated in white men in the 25-34 year old age group.
What happened to the Monkeypox vaccine?
Although the vaccine roll out had a rocky start, at least in the state of Washington there were over 30,000 doses of vaccines given. However, even with this amount of vaccination it probably wasn’t enough to make the Monkeypox virus cases decline on its own. Dr. Seheult notes that as seen in other viral epidemics, the outbreaks even without vaccines would go up and come down on their own suggesting behavior modification may be a contributing factor including decreasing social activities and self-monitoring behaviors.
Why did Monkeypox cases decline?
In this article from the New York Times, the author cited four factors to explain monkeypox’s decline including vaccines, gay and bisexual men reduced activities such as sex with multiple partners, the Pride Month celebrations finished so there were less celebrations and finally the virus simply burned out.
Where is Monkeypox in the world?
Looking at the World Health Organization global trends it shows that the peak cases were in August 2022 and now cases have significantly dwindled.
In Europe the current risk assessment is assessed as moderate for men who have sex with men and low for the broader population in the European Union.
Per the EU/EEA, raising awareness among healthcare professionals and increasing engagement with the community that was at highest risk for this as well as a decrease in the number of large cultural and social events frequented by the main risk groups for the outbreak after the summer was a significant contribution to the overall decline of this disease.
LINKS / REFERENCES:
As Mpox Persists With A New Name, Challenges Remain (HealthAffairs) | https://www.healthaffairs.org/content…
Mpox (formerly named monkeypox) situation update, as of 14 February 2023 (ECDC) | https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-ev…
Monkeypox (MPV) Data (Washington DOH) | https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-famil…
2022 Mpox (Monkeypox) Outbreak:
Global Trends (WHO) | https://worldhealthorg.shinyapps.io/m…
Monkeypox Explained Clearly (MedCram) | https://youtu.be/lWEj4J9cu7Y