CARPHA: Don't let monkeypox take root in region

Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) executive director Dr Joy St John said a single dose of a vaccine against monkeypox could cost US$90, according to figures shared with the agency. She said there are not large supplies of the vaccine available and stated that spread of the disease would best be achieved through preventative behaviour.

Speaking during an interview with CARPHA communications manager Carlon Kirton on Monday, St John said it was important to distinguish between importation of cases versus transmission of Caribbean-generated cases.

“What we need to guard against is having disease established in the Caribbean, so there would be a Caribbean-generated case of monkeypox, which would also suggest there could be spread to other people. Monkeypox is not airborne, it demands close, prolonged contact, and exchange of body fluids. And so if someone comes into a country, is detected, is isolated, and their contacts are quarantined and monitored, it is very possible, very likely, that we can contain that particular outbreak and not have transmission established.”

St John said it is unfortunate that many people who are infected are travelling for various activities, such as to attend various festivals, Carnivals, and so on across the Caribbean.

“People would know they would have lesions, they would have fever and they were still travelling for their activities, and because of this it’s going to be important for Caribbean people to have their vigilance up. It is not just the Ministry of Health, it is other people who are at risk of contracting monkeypox because of their activities. You need to know this is something you can get if there is close and prolonged bodily contact and exchange of bodily fluids and you desist from this.”

She noted that the disease was showing up differently in non-endemic countries than in endemic countries.

“People are speaking about really severe lesions in very strange places, people are talking about the swelling of lymph nodes so they protrude through the skin even two inches out from where they normally are. There are even reports of people who could not walk because their lymph nodes were so inflamed, so the way in which monkeypox in non-endemic countries in this outbreak is exhibiting means that people need to pay attention and people need to make sure they are not infected.”

St John said vaccines for monkeypox, as well as the smallpox vaccine, are not widely available.

The World Health Organisation said human-to-human transmission of monkeypox can occur through direct contact with infectious skin or lesions, including face-to-face, skin-to-skin, and respiratory droplets. In the current outbreak countries and amongst the reported monkeypox cases, transmission appears to be occurring primarily through close physical contact, including sexual contact. Transmission can also occur from contaminated materials such as linens, bedding, electronics, clothing, that have infectious skin particles.

St John's interview can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58FFa3aKSZU on the CarphaCampus YouTube channel.