Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Antiviral Tpoxx Moving To Late-Stage Trials As Monkeypox Treatment
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Friday it had started enrolling monkeypox patients in a late-stage study testing Siga Technologies Inc's antiviral pill Tpoxx against the disease. The oral and intravenous formulations of Tpoxx are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of smallpox, but does not yet have clearance to treat monkeypox. (9/9)
Today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided data on safety outcomes on 369 patients who receiving the monkeypox antiviral drug tecovirimat (Tpoxx), noting that few adverse events were reported. (Soucheray, 9/9)
More on the spread of monkeypox —
The 14-day average of daily new cases dropped by 43 percent, from .23 cases per 100,000 people, to .13, between Aug. 23 and Sept. 2, the last day for which data is available. As of Wednesday, Houston and Harris County had recorded a combined total of 693 cases. (Gill, 9/9)
The good news is that experts believe you are not likely to become reinfected with monkeypox after you’ve been infected or vaccinated. Based on what scientists know of other orthopox infections — such as smallpox, monkeypox’s close cousin — immunity to the disease should be lifelong. (Sheikh, 9/8)
NPR caught up with Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, one month into his job as deputy coordinator for the White House Monkeypox Response, to talk about where the outbreak is headed, and what it's like to go from being an HIV doctor and queer health activist to being the out-and-proud face of the government's monkeypox response. (Huang, 9/12)
For the past month, a couple of patients a day have sat across from Dr. Alberto Mendoza at the H.I.V. clinic where he works in Lima, Peru, to hear him confirm what they had feared: They have monkeypox. The men are tormented by the painful lesions the virus causes. They’re also afraid, because the visible sores mark them as men who have sex with men, a dangerous identity in Peru, where there is intense discrimination against homosexuality. But Dr. Mendoza, an infectious disease specialist, has little to offer. “I have no options,” he said in an interview. Neither the antiviral drug nor the vaccine being used against monkeypox in the United States and Europe is available in Peru. (Nolen, 9/12)
