30The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo reported that Russia donated a batch of vaccines against monkeypox to Nicaragua. Nevertheless, They did not specify what type of vaccine it is, nor how many doses arrived.
“Today vaccines began to arrive, vaccines that are being donated to us by the Russian Federation to have a reserve in our country, although we had no cases, we we took steps to have a reserve in case there were cases of monkeypox”, Vice President Rosario Murillo said, in her daily monologue.
As described, the doses were already transferred to the warehouses of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) with “all the necessary measures.”
None of the official media has published images of the arrival of the vaccines or their transferdespite the fact that they always report any donation from Russia or China, especially when it is received by the son of the presidential couple, Laureano Ortega Murillo.
At the international level, the Acam2000 and Jynneos vaccines, known in Europe as Imvanez, created by the Bavarian Nordic company, are being applied. This last vaccine is being distributed by the Revolving Fund of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
In Russia, the creation of a universal vaccine against monkeypox was announced. However, until last September 6, it was in preclinical studies, according to the Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA). Very little information is available on this vaccine.
PAHO delivers monkeypox vaccines
Nicaragua is one of the few countries in the Central American region that has not identified cases of monkeypox. Although Murillo expressed his government’s concern about obtaining vaccines against this epidemic, the country does not stand out among the nations that are managing vaccines through the PAHO Revolving Fund.
In October, the Revolving Fund began delivering monkeypox vaccines. The first country to receive them was Brazil, this nation received 9,800 doses on October 4. Two days later Chile joined.
The other countries that are interested in acquiring vaccines are: Bahamas, Belize, Ecuador, Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago, reported this week the director of PAHO, Carissa Etienne.
PAHO has emphasized that mass vaccination is not currently recommended, it should be applied to people over 18 years of age who had contact with confirmed cases.
More than 45,000 infections in America
PAHO also reported that monkeypox infections have decreased. However, the region continues to be the most affected because it accumulates 63% of the total cases registered worldwide.
“The spread of monkeypox appears to be slowing, but more than 2,300 new cases were still reported in the Americas last week. Most of these occurred in the United States, but hundreds were reported in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico,” said the PAHO director.
According to updated data from PAHO, until this Thursday, October 13, 2022, America accumulates 46,787 confirmed cases, 1,094 probable infections, and nine deaths from monkeypox.
From Central America, only Nicaragua and Belize are the only ones that have not reported cases. Costa Rica accumulates seven confirmed infections, El Salvador ten, Guatemala 43, Honduras six and Panama 16.
So far, 95% of these reported cases have been among men and 56% have occurred in people with HIV, reported PAHO.
What is monkeypox?
Monkeypox is an infectious disease characterized by skin rashes, concentrated on the face and hands, fever, body aches, and swollen lymph nodes.
It is transmitted by direct contact with body fluids, skin lesions, mucous membranes or contaminated material, as well as bedding or towels, as well as surfaces used by people sick with the virus.
This epidemic was declared an international emergency on July 23, 2022. This was the seventh time in recent history that the WHO declared an international emergency (a mechanism started in 2005). The first time occurred in 2009 due to influenza A, then in 2018 and 2018 due to Ebola, in 2014 due to polio, in 2017 due to the Zika virus and in 2020 due to the coronavirus that causes covid 19, whose alert level still in force.
With information from EFE
