More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the way people think about the virus is changing.
The United States declared monkeypox a public health emergency this month, and people at high risk of contracting the virus, especially men who have sex with men, line up on city streets to get vaccinated. . The bird flu epidemic that pushed egg prices up has finally come to an end. Polio relapses in New York. And now in the US he still has SARS-CoV-2, which is infecting about 93,000 people a day.
“We’re seeing more attention to these kinds of outbreaks and diseases,” said Chris Meakins, health policy analyst at Raymond James. .”
There are several factors that help explain some of the activity we are seeing. Studies show that climate change and changes in land-use patterns may increase the risk of the virus being transmitted from animals to humans. Some people are hesitant to vaccinate themselves and their children. And it became clear that public health agencies had to rethink how they approached outbreaks.
Just last week, Dr. Rochelle Wallensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called on the Public Health Service to reorganize.
“It’s time for the CDC to change,” she told employees, according to The New York Times.
But for now, the focus is on encouraging vaccination whenever possible.
While some people are increasingly reluctant to get vaccinated, the pandemic has also slowed access to health services, including childhood immunizations. A study published last year in JAMA Pediatrics found that fewer American infants, children, and their teens were vaccinated in the fall of 2020 compared to 2019. rice field. By the end of 2020, the World Health Organization called for measles and polio campaigns to advance worldwide despite the pandemic.
“This is a wake-up call,” said Dr. Peter Salk, president of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation and son of polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk. Start waving red flags and rush to this or that place. ”
That said, Salk recommends boosters for those at high risk of polio infection.
Polio is in New York.
New York health officials reported last month that an unvaccinated resident in Rockland County, north of the Bronx, was infected with polio.
They also said the poliovirus, which causes paralytic polio, had been detected in New York City wastewater. % well below. State data does not include New York City as of August 1st. Orange County’s share is 58.7% and Rockland County’s share is 60.3%.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett called the wastewater monitoring data “surprising, but not surprising.”
The polio vaccine, which has existed since the 1950s, is included in the childhood immunization schedule. However, he was only 86% of New York City children aged 6 months to her 5 years old who received her three doses of the polio vaccine.
“The problem you’re facing and the reason polio and other diseases are probably a little more prevalent is because the politicization of vaccines, the politicization of public health work has really happened and there are groups of people in the population. It’s just, we’re not going to hear it anymore,” Meakins said.
Monkeypox is now a public health emergency in the United States
Within months of the first warnings from Europe, more than 14,000 people had been diagnosed with the poxvirus, first detected in the United States in 1970 and endemic in parts of Africa as of Thursday. About 40,000 people worldwide have tested positive and 12 have died.
However, unlike SARS-CoV-2, the United States already has vaccine and treatment options for this virus. Bavarian Nordic BAVA,
Jynneos, and EBS from Emergent BioSolutions,
Smallpox vaccine, ACAM2000. antiviral agents to treat smallpox, such as Siga Technologies’ SIGA;
CMRX for Tpoxx and Chimerix,
Tembexa is expected to be effective against monkeypox.
Wall Street analysts say they don’t think monkeypox will be a health concern for all Americans, but the outbreak has raised more questions about the U.S. response to the upcoming virus threat. increase.
“How will public health apply lessons from COVID to shape a more effective response to monkeypox and future public health crises?” wrote in the memo.
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