The stats on monkeypox are around 80 confirmed cases in 12 countries that would not necessarily be expected to have the virus. Lots of questions have come with it including how are people with no connection to Africa getting it? So far, older people don't seem to be catching it to the same extent young people are. Those smallpox vaccinations we had as children may still be working. Given that the recommended treatment for monkeypox is to administer a smallpox vaccination, that should not surprise me.
Coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continue to rise here in the US. Infections are up some 50 percent in two weeks. Rates are rising among children as well as adults. It's not clear how helpful the booster shot for children ages five through 11 will be; only 30 percent of American children in that age range have even gotten a first shot. The booster comes at least five months after the second shot. Experts point out the expectation that new strains will circulate in the fall and urge parents to be ready.
North Korea reported 263,370 new cases Friday and two more deaths bringing the overall totals to 2.24 million cases and 65 deaths. I agree with the many experts who say those numbers are understated to make it look as if the country's response is being effective. They still have not accepted help from any other country including their neighbor, China.
Finally (it's a weekend; news is always slow then), BA.4 and BA.5 have been labelled variants of concern in the UK. Some of that concern is that their growth advantage could be due to some degree of immune escape. If that escape strengthens, boosters may not be sufficient to slow or stop it.
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