Sodiq Ojuroungbe Danish pharmaceutical company, Bavarian Nordic has announced its intent to seek European approval for the use of its mpox vaccine in adolescents aged 12 to 17. This move comes in response to the World Health Organisation’s recent declaration of a global public health emergency due to the rapid spread of a more dangerous strain of mpox, known as Clade 1b. PUNCH Healthwise had earlier reported that WHO said the mpox surge in Africa was now a global public health emergency, sounding its highest possible alarm over the worsening situation.
The WHO called a meeting of experts to study the outbreak and make a recommendation to the UN health agency’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that in its view, the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice.
This is something that should concern us all”, Tedros told a press conference. Currently, Bavarian Nordic’s mpox vaccine is approved only for individuals aged 18 and older. The company’s CEO, Paul Chaplin, emphasised the need to extend vaccine eligibility to younger populations.
“Children and adolescents are disproportionately affected by mpox in the ongoing outbreak in Africa, highlighting the importance and urgency to broaden the access to vaccines and therapies for this vulnerable population,” Chaplin noted in a statement. The company said it had presented the European Medicines Agency with clinical data from a study that showed “non-inferiority of immune responses from mpox/smallpox vaccination in adolescents and (a) similar safety profile compared to adults.” In the United States, the US Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorisation for the vaccine for adolescents during the 2022 mpox outbreak.
Meanwhile, the virus has continued its spread, with recent reports confirming its presence in Sweden and Pakistan, marking the first cases outside Africa. The WHO has warned that additional imported cases of the new strain in Europe are likely. The ongoing outbreak has had severe consequences in Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where mpox has claimed 548 lives this year.
The virus, transmitted from animals to humans and through close human contact, causes symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, and large boil-like skin lesions. With the escalation of the mpox outbreak and the emergence of the Clade 1b strain, the need for expanded vaccine availability and proactive health measures has never been more pressing. Copyright PUNCH All rights reserved.
This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. Contact: [email protected] Tags Africa CDC declares mpox public health emergency Drugmaker seeks approval for vaccine use in teens amid Mpox spread..
EU donates 215000 Mpox vaccine doses to Africa Mpox outbreak in Africa WHO declares mpox global health emergency.
