What you need to know about monkeypox - especially if you've had Covid-19 injections.

This is an update on monkeypox and its treatment. For more background, please refer to part 1 of this series here. Before we look at why those who have received Covid-19 injections need to pay particular attention to monkeypox and its vaccines, here’s some context.

As covered in the previous post, monkeypox is typically transmitted through close and prolonged skin-to-skin contact. This was the case for the 2022 outbreak, and standard medical procedures effectively managed this monkeypox outbreak, just as they had in the past.

The monkeypox we're dealing with in 2024, however, raises some questions.

Is this latest monkeypox manmade?

Is the latest outbreak the same monkeypox as before, or has it been altered by human intervention? This latter possibility is surprisingly common. History is dotted with instances of diseases like anthrax, foot and mouth disease, SARS, and even COVID-19, where lab leaks or intentional releases have been mooted as possible causes based on substantial evidence.

Monkeypox is no different.

In fact, it has been a subject of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease's (NIAID) gain-of-function research for many years. A 2022 study discussed the L108F mutation in the F8L protein as a gain-of-function mutation – this alone highlights the urgent need for viral sequencing today.

The potential threat

A monkeypox experiment was first mentioned in a September 2022 article in Science. It was later revealed that for nearly nine years, Anthony Fauci’s institute had been planning to engineer a highly pathogenic pox virus with a potential fatality rate of up to 15 percent. The project proposed by NIAID virologist Bernard Moss aimed to combine genes from the highly pathogenic clade I virus with the more transmissible clade II virus. The resulting ‘chimeric’ virus could have a fatality rate of up to 15 percent and a reproductive number of 2.4, indicating its potential to cause a pandemic. While there’s no evidence of a manmade version of monkeypox so far, evaluations must be conducted to rule out this possibility.

The current situation

The current data on the number of infected patients is inconsistent. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported 685 cases from 20 EU/EEA countries on August 16th, while the German 'Ärztezeitung’ reported more than 27,000 cases in Europe on August 7th. More accurate data will be available soon. Please update yourself with the help of this site:

Here come the vaccines…

So far, three mpox vaccines have been recommended by the WHO, but we need more data to determine safety and effectiveness. The current monkeypox vaccines use different technologies:

MVA-BN (Jynneos in the US): a live, non-replicating vaccine derived from the Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) strain of vaccinia virus. It's the only FDA-licensed vaccine specifically for monkeypox prevention.
ACAM2000: a live, replicating vaccinia virus vaccine. It's FDA-licensed for smallpox but can be used for monkeypox under special circumstances. It's a second-generation vaccine consisting of specific protein antigens or recombinant protein components.
LC16m8: an attenuated live vaccinia virus vaccine licensed for use in Japan against biological terrorism. It's derived from the Lister vaccinia strain and lacks the B5R envelope protein gene to reduce neurotoxicity.

Originally developed for smallpox, these vaccines all use different forms of vaccinia virus, which is related to both smallpox and monkeypox viruses. MRNA-based vaccines for monkeypox are in development, but these are not yet approved or widely available. These experimental mRNA vaccines encode specific monkeypox virus proteins to induce an immune response.

Are these vaccines as effective as they say they are?

The smallpox vaccines are reportedly 85% effective in preventing monkeypox. But consider this: the efficacy of the Covid-19 injections was initially reported to be 95%. However, this figure primarily represents the relative risk reduction (RRR) of severe symptoms. When considering the absolute risk reduction (ARR), the injection reduces severe symptoms by less than 1% for the general population. We should therefore be highly sceptical of any claim as to the effectiveness of smallpox vaccines in preventing monkeypox.

This applies to everyone. However, what comes next is of particular consideration for anyone who has received Covid-19 injections.

Immunocompromised people need to be fully informed on monkeypox and the vaccines – this includes those who’ve received Covid-19 injections.

Here’s why:

Impact on the immune system. There is substantial evidence suggesting that the Covid-19 injections may have adverse effects on the immune system in some cases. For instance, they have been associated with a reduction in CD8 cellsand a decrease in Interferon 1, both of which are crucial for our defence against viruses and cancer.
Interferon Binding Protein. A studyrevealed that smallpox and monkeypox could produce a protein that blocks a wide range of human interferons, which are molecules our immune system produces to halt viral replication. This finding is particularly concerning as the Covid-19 vaccine can inhibit Interferon 1 production, potentially enhancing this mechanism.
Live vaccines. The current smallpox and monkeypox vaccines are live vaccines. This means that an incomplete immune response from the vaccinated individual could potentially spread the pox and monkeypox viruses. This risk needs to be evaluated before initiating any mass vaccination program.
Safety concerns. The main safety concern with the monkeypox vaccine is the potential for live vaccines to cause side effects. While the smallpox vaccine reliably creates a pustular lesion at the injection site and causes regional lymphadenopathy and malaise, these symptoms are typically short-lived. However, the pustular lesions can take 2–3 weeks to fully resolve.
Potential side effects. The package insert for the ACAM2000 vaccine lists potential side effects that include myocarditis, pericarditis, encephalitis, and more. These risks are heightened in individuals with pre-existing conditions and can result in severe disability or even death.

Recommendation

Based on scientific evidence, individuals who have received the Covid-19 injections should be considered immunocompromised. This is highly significant before considering a monkeypox injection, and is especially important as research suggests that each new mRNA vaccine could accelerate damage to the thymus gland, leading to a decline in immune system function.

While public health bodies may insinuate that vaccination is the only defence against monkeypox, this is simply not the case. There are multiple ways both to prevent the spread of the disease, and to treat it.

In most cases in Africa, treatment mainly consists of symptomatic skin lesion treatment. The first step should be to implement health-supporting measures for the host, including avoiding health-suppressing lifestyle factors (such as modern diet, lack of exercise and/or micronutrients) and promoting health-enhancing aspects (such as healthy diet, healthy microbiome, sufficient micronutrients, positive frame of mind). Malnutrition and AIDS are essential to keep in mind when interpreting data in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Reducing the frequency of human monkeypox infection could also be accomplished through health education on handling potential animal reservoir species to prevent animal-to-human transmission and by quarantine or contact isolation to prevent human-to-human spread.

Further studies are also needed to identify intermediate hosts and animal reservoirs. Smallpox vaccination will not modify the pool nor the amount of monkeypox virus found in amplification species. The introduction of monkeypox into human populations depends on contact with infected species; thus, vaccination alone will not effectively control the geographic spread of monkeypox as the movement of animals determines it. It is primarily driven by the loss of natural habitat.

We will be covering more on potential treatments in Part 3 of this series. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to make sure you receive this important next post in your inbox.

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