Toward the end of last year, the World Health Organization expressed concern about a new strain of Mpox (aka monkeypox) that is spreading quicker in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is deadlier than the variant detected in 2022. However, on Friday, the U.N. agency has decided to heighten the alarm over the new version due to a surge in cases among the general population.

Worse still, during the middle of the month, the virus has spread to the DRC”s neighbor, the Republic of Congo and, unfortunately, the tests being used to detect the new monkeypox variant have been found to be unreliable. Shortly after reports of the virus’s spread, the CDC has issued alerts warning people who visited the DRC.

What is concerning is that also around the same time as the reported variant spread, scientists in the U.K. solicited volunteers to test a new mRNA vaccine for the Mpox variant. However, a vaccine for the virus already exists and recent studies have uncovered (albeit rate) instances of patients (many of whom were young people) developing blood clots after having taken the COVID-19 vaccine which contains mRNA. Until more research is done, it makes no sense to develop or administer a new immunization with mRNA technology due to this (albeit small) potential risk.

The bad publicity U.S. health officials garnered for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic would also not help their case if they tried to promote a new vaccine with mRNA technology either in which it would make sense to get vaccinated with the original inoculations instead. Since monkeypox is largely spread by sexual contact, it would also be reasonable to repeat the successful method used in 2022 urging sexually active people to refrain from sexual intercourse until this variant fades away.

PHOTO CREDIT: The evolution of monkeypox lesions – By UK government – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/monkeypox-cases-confirmed-in-england-latest-updates#seven-may, OGL 3, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118186900