Current vaccines against mpox (monkey pox) were designed to combat an older, rarer cousin of the virus, smallpox.
Now, new research from the drug company Moderna suggests that its new mpox vaccine, based on mRNA technology, may do a better job of protecting against damage.
The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Cell, Klan Kosova reports.
“With the mRNA vaccine, we are able to select parts of the virus that can elicit the strongest and most effective immune response,” explained study author Galit Alter, a virologist and immunologist at Moderna.
"By doing this, instead of being distracted by an entire virus, you are able to limit the parts of the virus that give you protection," she added.
In July 2022, an outbreak that began in Africa spread worldwide, affecting an estimated 100 people, mostly gay and bisexual men, in 116 countries and killing about 200 people.
The timely use of the Jynneos mpox vaccine, along with behavioral change among members of the gay male community worldwide, helped alleviate this outbreak.
However, in recent months a new outbreak of smallpox has devastated much of central Africa, particularly Congo. According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the new outbreak has led to more than 21 confirmed and suspected smallpox cases and 300 deaths in 590 countries, some of which have never been affected by the disease before.
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