WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday (May 27) published recommendations by its group of independent experts on a smallpox vaccine that limit its use to only people who work closely with viruses such as monkeypox.
The Jynneos vaccine, made by Bavarian Nordic, will be available for certain healthcare workers and laboratory personnel at a time when monkeypox infections have spread in Europe, United States and beyond.
The vaccine was approved in the United States in 2019 to prevent smallpox and monkeypox in high-risk adults aged 18 and older.
CDC officials earlier this week said they were in the process of releasing some doses of the Jynneos vaccine for people in contact with known monkeypox patients.
Officials said there were over 100 million doses of an older smallpox vaccine called ACAM2000, made by Emergent BioSolutions , which has significant side effects.
Monkeypox is a mild viral infection that is endemic in certain parts of Africa, but the recent outbreak in countries where the virus does not usually spread has raised concerns.
So far, there are about 300 confirmed or suspected cases in around 20 countries where the virus was not previously circulating. The World Health Organisation has called for quick action from countries to contain the monkeypox spread.
The CDC said its experts' recommendations are meant for clinical laboratory personnel performing diagnostic tests for orthopoxviruses such as smallpox and monkeypox, laboratory people doing research on the viruses and healthcare workers who administer the ACAM2000 vaccine or care for patients infected with orthopoxviruses.
The publication of the vote by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices, which took place in November last year, formalises the recommendations.
Both ACAM2000 and Jynneos are available for prevention of orthopoxvirus infections among at-risk people, the CDC said on Friday.
Argentina confirmed the first two cases of monkeypox in Latin America on Friday, its Ministry of Health said in statements.
Spain, England and Portugal are the countries with the most cases in the recent outbreak of this usually mild viral disease.
"The outcome of the PCR result of the case in question is positive," the Health Ministry said about Argentina's first case, adding that the patient is in good health and people who were in close contact with the individual were under clinical and epidemiological control, with no symptoms so far.
Later in the afternoon, the ministry confirmed another case, of a Spanish citizen who arrived in Argentina on Wednesday and began to develop ulcerous lesions the next day.
"The patient is in good general condition, isolated and receiving symptomatic treatment," the ministry said.
Most of the reported infections around the world so far have not been serious. Many, but not all, the people who have been diagnosed in the current monkeypox outbreak have been men who have sex with men.
Symptoms include fever and a rash.
