WEBVTT - What You Need to Know About Mpox

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. This is Bloomberg BusinessWeek

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<v Speaker 1>with Carol Messer and Tim Stenebeck on Bloomberg Radio.

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<v Speaker 2>In August, the World Health Organization declared an empoc's global

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<v Speaker 2>Health emergency as one strain. The virus has now killed

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<v Speaker 2>over five hundred and seventy five people in the Democratic

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<v Speaker 2>Republic of Congo and infected thirty times. More. New cases

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<v Speaker 2>have recently appeared now in Europe and Asia. We're joined

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<v Speaker 2>now by Carrie Debink, Associate Professor in the Department of

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<v Speaker 2>Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School

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<v Speaker 2>of Public Health. And a quick disclaimer. The Johns Hopkins

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<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg School of Public Health is supported by Michael R. Bloomberg,

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<v Speaker 2>founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies. So, Carrie, what

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<v Speaker 2>do Americans need to know about the threat of MPOs So?

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<v Speaker 3>I think the first thing that's really important for the

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<v Speaker 3>general public to understand is that right now our risk

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<v Speaker 3>is very low. We have not seen any cases of

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<v Speaker 3>the specific type of empocs that the public health emergency

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<v Speaker 3>has been activated for. However, you know that health emergency

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<v Speaker 3>went out to make sure that the governments and public

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<v Speaker 3>health agencies are gearing up and getting ready in case

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<v Speaker 3>we do see something, and also helping countries where there

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<v Speaker 3>are cases combat it there so that it doesn't spread further.

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<v Speaker 3>So for the general public right now, the risk is

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<v Speaker 3>very low, but we also are prepared.

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<v Speaker 1>How are we prepared?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's a great question. So I think first I

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<v Speaker 3>want to just give a background on empocs as far

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<v Speaker 3>as how it's defined. So there's actually two different big

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<v Speaker 3>groups of empocs. There's Claye one and Clayed two. And

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<v Speaker 3>in twenty twenty two, there was a global outbreak of

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<v Speaker 3>Clade two, including cases here in the United States, and

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<v Speaker 3>there are still cases of the clade too empocs here

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<v Speaker 3>in the US. However, this specific public health emergency is

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<v Speaker 3>actually geared towards one of the Clade one virus, and

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<v Speaker 3>the reason for that being it's spreading to places that

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<v Speaker 3>hasn't spread, it's spreading in ways it hasn't spread, and

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<v Speaker 3>historically this has been a type of EMPOCS that causes

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<v Speaker 3>more severe disease and higher death rates. And so that's

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<v Speaker 3>why people are concerned now because in twenty twenty two

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<v Speaker 3>we had that outbreak of the Clade two virus, our

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<v Speaker 3>public health agencies and health infrastructure really stepped up to

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<v Speaker 3>make sure that we're able to do really good surveillance

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<v Speaker 3>for EMPOCS. So we do wastewater testing and people are

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<v Speaker 3>doing clinical sample testing. We're also able to detect it

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<v Speaker 3>in clinical cases, so there's a test that can tell

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<v Speaker 3>whether or not somebody has EMPOCS versus another type of virus.

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<v Speaker 3>And we also have vaccines available for people in high

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<v Speaker 3>risk groups. So our health infrastructure really in the United

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<v Speaker 3>States is set up well in case we do end

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<v Speaker 3>up seeing clayed when virus is here.

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<v Speaker 2>What are the symptoms of EMPOCS and then what are

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<v Speaker 2>the treatments then if someone does contract it.

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<v Speaker 3>So the symptoms of EMPOCS, they start out like typical

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<v Speaker 3>flu symptoms, so fever, swollen lymph nodes, headache, those are

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<v Speaker 3>some of the general symptoms that people can have. But

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<v Speaker 3>the characteristic symptom of EMPOCS it's a pox virus, so

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<v Speaker 3>it causes blisters, and so you end up with a

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<v Speaker 3>rash that starts off as a flat rash, it that

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<v Speaker 3>erupts into blisters that are fluid filled. Those burst and

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<v Speaker 3>scab over and and it heals. So that's the characteristic

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<v Speaker 3>when people think of empocs, they're thinking usually of that

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<v Speaker 3>rash and those blisters, So those are the main symptoms.

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<v Speaker 3>Usually people recover. In severe cases, you know, people might

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<v Speaker 3>have severe respiratory illness or neurological symptoms, and in rare

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<v Speaker 3>cases people die from empocs, but the majority of people

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<v Speaker 3>do recover. As far as treatments go, there are no

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<v Speaker 3>licensed specific anti virals or specifically for empacts. However, there

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<v Speaker 3>have been cases where people are using antivirals that have

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<v Speaker 3>been approved for other viral infections to try to treat it.

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<v Speaker 3>Usually this is in severe cases. For most people that

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<v Speaker 3>don't end up with a really severe case, it's mostly

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<v Speaker 3>treating the symptoms, you know, making sure that their pain

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<v Speaker 3>is managed, that they're not getting secondary infections, like from

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<v Speaker 3>a bacteria that invades, like the wounds, from the from

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<v Speaker 3>the blisters, things like that.

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<v Speaker 1>Carrie, who who's most at risk for for mpaks and

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<v Speaker 1>should these people be getting vaccinated?

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<v Speaker 3>Right? So, traditionally for Claye one viruses that were you know,

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<v Speaker 3>they're they're traditionally found in Central Africa. It's usually children

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<v Speaker 3>there that are that are the ones that are getting

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<v Speaker 3>it the most, followed by also followed by people with

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<v Speaker 3>immune deficiencies, so those are like the two highest risk group,

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<v Speaker 3>children and people with immune deficiencies. Pregnant women are also

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<v Speaker 3>at a greater risk of to themselves and to the

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<v Speaker 3>developing fetus of the baby. Here in the United States,

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<v Speaker 3>in the two thousand and two outbreak, it was mostly

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<v Speaker 3>seen in populations of men having sex with men, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>So it really just depends on the particular location and

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<v Speaker 3>the main transmission route in a certain area who might

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<v Speaker 3>be the most at risk of getting it. But as

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<v Speaker 3>far as severe infections and death, it's definitely children and

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<v Speaker 3>people who are already compromised.

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<v Speaker 2>So are most children getting a vaccine that would protect

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<v Speaker 2>against this.

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<v Speaker 3>No, in the United States, children are not being vaccinated

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<v Speaker 3>right now in the United States. You know. Again, we

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<v Speaker 3>haven't seen any Played one viruses at this point, So

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<v Speaker 3>the vaccinations that have been given to this point have

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<v Speaker 3>been for the two thousand and two outbreakak of that

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<v Speaker 3>clade two virus, and the CDC has very specific recommendations

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<v Speaker 3>for who gets that vaccine. It's really only recommended for

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<v Speaker 3>specific groups that are high risk of development of being exposed.

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<v Speaker 1>In terms of like a worry list. Right now, where

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<v Speaker 1>should we be? Where should this be on our list

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<v Speaker 1>of things to worry about? I have a list, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>have a list.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, we'll put on put this one low.

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<v Speaker 1>Come.

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<v Speaker 3>And there's a couple there's a couple of reasons for that.

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<v Speaker 3>So I know that it sounds really scary when people

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<v Speaker 3>here like public health Emergency of International Concern, right, But

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<v Speaker 3>you know that's you know, that's the who's designation. But

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<v Speaker 3>that's really not meant to be for the average person

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<v Speaker 3>in the public. That's really meant to be for governments

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<v Speaker 3>and public health agencies to step up to prepare their

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<v Speaker 3>infrastructure and to allow them to provide additional aid to

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<v Speaker 3>where it needs to go. So it's really that's really

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<v Speaker 3>telling everybody to get ready for it, not that the

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<v Speaker 3>average person needs to be worried about contracting it.

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<v Speaker 1>Carrie, thank you so much, the super super helpful Kerrie Debank,

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<v Speaker 1>Associate Professor in the Department of molecum and Microbiology and

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<v Speaker 1>Immunology at the Johns Hopkins A. Bloomberg School of Public Health,

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<v Speaker 1>supported by Michael R. Bloomberg, founder A Bloomberg LP and

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<v Speaker 1>A Bloomberg philanthropy,