What Recent Outbreaks of Monkeypox and Polio Mean for Vaccinations

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Vaccine Access Digest

August 2022
Johns Hopkins University
Bloomberg School of Public Health

Outbreaks of Preventable Infectious Diseases Underscore Value of Vaccines

The recent global outbreak of monkeypox and uptick in polio cases reminds the world how valuable vaccinations are for preventing infectious diseases. In a virtual JHU briefing, IVAC's Executive Director Dr. William Moss explained how the U.S. is fortunate to have a couple vaccines available against monkeypox. However, one of the challenges is having enough doses to reach all populations at high-risk for contracting the virus.
 
Polio was detected in the U.S. for the first time in decades. As alarming as this is, Dr. Svea Closser, an associate professor at IVAC and JHU, told the Wall Street Journal that polio won't spread like it once did in the U.S. thanks to long-term immunity from previous successful vaccination campaigns.
 
Viruses like SARS-CoV-2, polio, and monkeypox remind us that infectious diseases won't simply disappear so maintaining high vaccination coverage is our best strategy to combat future outbreaks.
 

[Recording] Coping During COVID: A Family and Youth Perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increasing mental health concerns that include conditions such as anxiety, depression, or insomnia. With particular emphasis on the family and youth, VALUE (Vaccine Acceptance & Access Live in Unity, Engagement, and Education) ambassadors and coordinators discussed how they have coped during the pandemic and described the ways they have assisted others in coping.
 
 

Register for the Maternal Infant and Young Child Nutrition and Family Planning Immunization Integration Community of Practice Bi-annual Meeting

The event will explore the integration of nutrition, family planning, and immunization. IVAC's Dr. Chizoba Wonodi and partners from Madagascar, Nepal, and Nigeria will present results from a study on integration of immunization and primary health care services. The MIYCN-FP-Immunization Community of Practice is hosted by USAID's MOMENTUM project.

The meeting will take place virtually on September 1 from 8:00-10:00am EDT. French interpretation will be available. Register here.
 
Vaccine News and Resources
 

Nigeria Introduces Rotavirus Vaccine to Protect Children

This month, Nigeria introduced a rotavirus vaccine, which protects children against one of the leading causes of diarrheal disease. In a message by IVAC's Senior Advisor Dr. Mathuram Santosham, he explains that the rotavirus vaccine has the potential to facilitate over 6.9 million children gaining access to this life-saving vaccine each year.

For more information on rotavirus and diarrheal disease, check out ROTA Council's resources. And explore which countries along with Nigeria have introduced rotavirus vaccines on VIEW-hub.
 

VIEW-hub Visualizes Vaccine Neutralization Studies in a New Module

In a new VIEW-hub module, vaccine neutralization studies are displayed in an interactive diagram to help the user find which vaccines are being studied as it relates to COVID-19 variants. Currently there are 241 studies reported studying 15 vaccines and 7 variants.

Explore and download the data here.
 

New Joint Project with IVAC Focuses on Modeling Dynamic Disease-Behavior Feedbacks

We are pleased to announce that a new project, Modeling Dynamic Disease-Behavior Feedbacks for Improved Epidemic Prediction and Response, received support from the National Science Foundation for a multi-disciplinary modelling grant. Researchers will aim to improve the applied usability and predictive accuracy of infectious disease epidemiologic models by incorporating insights from economic theory, human behavior, and systems engineering.

The project will be co-led by Shaun Truelove and Bryan Patenaude at IVAC along with three other principle investigators at several schools at JHU including the School of Public Health, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, and School of Arts & Sciences.
 
Duration of Protection of COVID-19 Vaccines Against Omicron
How long do COVID-19 vaccines protect against Omicron? Researchers at IVAC, WHO, and CEPI found that COVID-19 vaccines are less effective against Omicron than other variants. For both the primary and booster doses, protection against symptomatic disease drops quickly following vaccination but protection against severe disease lasted for many months. Their findings were published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

In partnership with the Asian Development Bank, IVAC developed factsheets summarizing key measures for COVID-19 vaccines such as effectiveness and protection against severe disease. Download here.
 
New Brief on Routine Immunization Services Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
Gavi CSO Constituency in collaboration with RESULTS UK, UNICEF, Save the Children, USAID’s Momentum Country and Global Leadership, the Geneva Learning Foundation, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance developed a policy brief outlining key learnings from a three-part webinar series assessing the risks and opportunities for routine immunization services amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
IVAC in the News
 
[Podcast] Public Health On Call: What’s Happening With COVID Globally—Variants, Second-Generation Vaccines, and a Worrying Flu Season Down South

NBC News: FDA clears the way for single monkeypox vaccine doses to be divided into 5 to protect more people

NBC Bay Area: US Will Stretch Monkeypox Vaccine Supply By Splitting Doses
  
The Atlantic: The Pandemic's Soft Closing

The New York Times: Was I Vaccinated Against Polio? Young Adults Wonder.

Wall Street Journal: What to Know About Polio Symptoms, Vaccines and the Virus’s Spread in New York

The New York Times: U.K. Approves Covid Booster Vaccine That Targets Two Variants

WIRED: Polio Is Back in the US and UK. Here’s How That Happened
 
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