Jo Ann University Hospital epidemiologist: some European countries offer smallpox vaccine to combat monkeypox

Maia Kashia, an epidemiologist at Jo Ann University Hospital, told Front News on Monday that some European countries have decided to offer smallpox vaccines to combat monkeypox virus which was observed in up to 10 European countries over the past several weeks. 

The UK, France, Denmark and Germany are among the countries which have ordered the smallpox vaccine to combat the virus which was rarely observed out of Africa. 

Kashia suggested that there was not a specific vaccine for monkeypox. However, data showed that vaccines that were used to eradicate smallpox were up to 85% effective against it. 

“I mean smallpox and not a chickenpox vaccine. Georgia suspended the usage of the smallpox vaccine back in the 1990s as the virus was eradicated,” Kashia said. 

She stated that the monkeypox virus, which has not been detected in Georgia so far, could be spread through close contact with an infected person, through broken skin or through the eyes, nose or mouth.

Kashia suggested that the infection usually cleared up on its own and lasted between 14 and 21 days, noting that the virus resembled some other virus with its symptoms and could be traced through rash.