The World Health Organization authorized the first MPOX vaccine for children, a move that experts hope will help make vaccines more widely available to one of the hardest-hit populations during ongoing outbreaks of the disease in Congo and elsewhere in Africa.
In a statement Tuesday evening, the United Nations health agency said it had approved the mpox vaccine made by Japanese company KM Biologics for use in children over one year old as a single dose.
Earlier this month, the charity Save the Children said cases among children under 18 had increased by more than 130 percent in Congo, noting that there were now more than 25,000 cases suspects.
The charity said children were almost four times more likely than adults to die from the new form of mpox first detected in eastern Congo earlier this year. Mpox, related to smallpox, mainly causes symptoms such as fever, rash, lesions and fatigue.
“Children are particularly vulnerable to mpox,” Dr. Katia Vieira de Moraes LaCasse of Save The Children said in a statement. “They explore by touch and taste, don’t always understand health advice, and have weaker immune systems than adults.”
Scientists have previously noted that mpox appears to disproportionately affect children in Congo and Burundi, who account for more than 90% of all mpox cases in Africa’s current epidemic.
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The WHO had previously approved the mpox vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic for people 18 and older, but said the vaccine could be used in younger populations, if doctors thought the benefits might outweigh the risks. potential risks, given the lack of data in children and other groups, including pregnant women.
Last week, the WHO said cases of mpox in the Congolese region where the new, more infectious form was first identified appeared to be “stagnating”, even as cases increased elsewhere, including Burundi and Uganda. .
So far, around 50,000 people in Congo have been vaccinated against mpox using the vaccine manufactured by Bavarian Nordic.
The WHO said Japan announced it would donate around three million doses of the vaccine made by KM Biologics to Congo. It was unclear whether any of the doses had arrived.
The WHO is convening its expert committee on Friday to determine whether outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa still constitute a global emergency, a declaration the U.N. agency first made in August.
To date, Africa has reported more than 46,000 suspected cases of mpox in the current outbreak, including 1,081 deaths.