UK expands monkeypox vaccination to more risk groupsThe United Kingdom today expanded monkeypox vaccination to include men who have sex with men who are in high-risk groups, instead of just those who are known contacts and those at occupational risk.In an update, the UK's Health Security Agency (HSA) said the risk criteria now includes people who have recently had multiple sex partners, participate in group sex, attend sex-on-premises venues, and have a proxy marker such as a recent bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the past year.In other developments, the UK reported 219 more cases over a 4-day period, according to the HSA's latest update.
The new cases lift its total to 793 as of Jun 20. The highest proportion, 80%, involve London residents.In the United States, New Jersey yesterday announced its first probable case, a patient who tested positive for orthopox on Jun 18 whose samples will undergo confirmatory monkeypox testing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The patient is isolating at home, and the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) had no other details about the patient or exposure.Jun 21 UK HSA vaccination update Jun 21 UK HSA update Jun 20 NJDOH statementStudy: Hospitalized Omicron patients benefited from fourth vaccine doseWhen the Omicron variant surge hit at the end of 2021, which came with breakthrough COVID-19 infections in vaccinated people, Israel was one of the first countries to offer fourth vaccine doses for those age 60 and older.
Yesterday, Israeli researchers reported that a fourth dose was linked to significant protection against severe outcomes in hospitalized patients.In a multicenter retrospective cohort study, they examined outcomes in people who were