Two vaccines are available for monkeypox. Vaccine expert Agam Rao, MD, medical officer in CDC's Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, answers questions about their effectiveness and dosing.
How effective is the smallpox vaccine against monkeypox, and how was it identified as potentially protective against monkeypox?
Smallpox is the illness that is caused by variola virus, a member of the genus Orthopoxvirus. Monkeypox virus is in that same genus. For viruses within the same genus, we expect that a vaccine against one will be effective against the other.
There are actually several different vaccines worldwide that are used for smallpox and other similar viruses. In the United States, we have two vaccines that are licensed for the prevention of smallpox: ACAM2000 and JYNNEOS. JYNNEOS happens to be licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for prevention of monkeypox as well.
We don't have any reason to believe that either of these vaccines would differ in effectiveness for monkeypox vs smallpox because the two viruses are related.
Do you have any data on how effective ACAM2000 and JYNNEOS are in preventing smallpox?
JYNNEOS is a new vaccine and therefore was not used during the eradication campaign for smallpox, so we don't have any real-world data on how effective it would be in preventing smallpox.
Monkeypox Vaccines: Q&A With the CDC's Agam Rao, MD
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Monkeypox Vaccines: Q&A With the CDC's Agam Rao, MD
Agam Rao, MD
DisclosuresSeptember 02, 2022
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Two vaccines are available for monkeypox. Vaccine expert Agam Rao, MD, medical officer in CDC's Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, answers questions about their effectiveness and dosing.
How effective is the smallpox vaccine against monkeypox, and how was it identified as potentially protective against monkeypox?
Smallpox is the illness that is caused by variola virus, a member of the genus Orthopoxvirus. Monkeypox virus is in that same genus. For viruses within the same genus, we expect that a vaccine against one will be effective against the other.
There are actually several different vaccines worldwide that are used for smallpox and other similar viruses. In the United States, we have two vaccines that are licensed for the prevention of smallpox: ACAM2000 and JYNNEOS. JYNNEOS happens to be licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for prevention of monkeypox as well.
We don't have any reason to believe that either of these vaccines would differ in effectiveness for monkeypox vs smallpox because the two viruses are related.
Do you have any data on how effective ACAM2000 and JYNNEOS are in preventing smallpox?
JYNNEOS is a new vaccine and therefore was not used during the eradication campaign for smallpox, so we don't have any real-world data on how effective it would be in preventing smallpox.
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Cite this: Monkeypox Vaccines: Q&A With the CDC's Agam Rao, MD - Medscape - Sep 02, 2022.
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Authors and Disclosures
Authors and Disclosures
Author
Agam Rao, MD
Medical Officer, Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Disclosure: Agam Rao, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.