450,000 new monkeypox vaccinations are obtained by Australia
Australia has obtained 450,000 doses of a third-generation monkeypox vaccine, of which 22,000 will arrive later this week, according to health minister Mark Butler’s announcement today.
The virus has now infected 58 persons in Australia.
The declaration follows last week’s designation of monkeypox as a “communicable disease occurrence of national concern” by the Chief Medical Officer.
By making antivirals or vaccinations available through the national medical stockpile, for instance, the federal government may help the states and the territories. Additionally, it conveys the severity of the outbreak and the necessity of controlling it.
The majority of cases in Australia are in the states of New South Wales and Victoria, with some instances also occurring as a result of community spread.
In three months, the number of cases worldwide increased from a few hundred to over 23,000, with the United States surpassing European nations as the region with the most instances.
Over 98% of cases still occur in communities of men who have intercourse with other men, where the disease is still primarily spreading.
Overseas, the prevalence of HIV is over 40%, while that of concomitant STDs is around 30%. Australia has a substantially lower rate of HIV coinfection, indicating that HIV has been successfully controlled there.