Two doses of Jynneos vaccine significantly effective in treating monkeypox

A new study published in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the incidence of monkeypox (mpox) among unvaccinated individuals was 9.6 times higher than that among those who had gotten two doses of the vaccination and 7.4 times higher than that among those who had only received the first dose among JYNNEOS vaccine-eligible males aged 18 to 49 in 43 U.S. counties.

29,711 cases have been recorded in the U.S., according to the CDC's mpox tracker, although the outbreak has mostly subsided, with an average of six new cases per day. Jynneos vaccine has been given in 1,131,293 doses overall throughout 57 countries.

Payne and colleagues used information on 9,544 instances of the mpox reported in men between the ages of 18 and 49 between July 31 and October 1 for their study. Gay, bisexual, and other males who have intercourse with men who are HIV-positive or who qualify for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis were all considered eligible for the immunization. To be included in the trial, vaccinated participants had to have gotten their Jynneos dosage at least 14 days before contracting the illness.

The key findings of this study were:

The researchers emphasized that underestimating the number of vaccinated persons who were affected may have resulted from the presumption that those with an unknown vaccination status were unvaccinated. 

Furthermore, it was unknown whether the males who received the immunization did so as pre-exposure prophylaxis or post-exposure prophylaxis; as a result, some of them may have been exposed before receiving it.

Additionally, the statistics do not take into consideration risky behaviors among infected individuals or underlying medical problems, such as HIV-associated immune suppression, and it is possible that some male infected individuals were not among the group that qualified for the vaccination.

Finally, there may have been a little underestimating of mpox among the vaccinated since persons were only counted as being immunized as of 2 weeks before to the conclusion of a surveillance week.

In conclusion, when compared to receiving no immunization at all, one or two doses of the Jynneos vaccine provided significant protection against monkeypox, or mpox, infection.

Reference: 

Payne, A. B., Ray, L. C., Cole, M. M., Canning, M., Houck, K., Shah, H. J., Farrar, J. L., Lewis, N. M., Fothergill, A., White, E. B., Feldstein, L. R., Roper, L. E., Lee, F., Kriss, J. L., Sims, E., Spicknall, I. H., Nakazawa, Y., Gundlapalli, A. V., Shimabukuro, T., … Payne, D. C. (2022). Reduced Risk for Mpox After Receipt of 1 or 2 Doses of JYNNEOS Vaccine Compared with Risk Among Unvaccinated Persons — 43 U.S. Jurisdictions, July 31–October 1, 2022. In MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Vol. 71, Issue 49, pp. 1560–1564). Centers for Disease Control MMWR Office. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7149a5