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Chicago Health Alert of Mpox Resurgence -
CDC Investigates Possible Resurgence
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May 10, 2023
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mpox-resurgence-dozens-new-cases-nationwide-cdc-investigating/
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it was working with multiple health departments to investigate new mpox cases around the country, less than a month after officials had hailed the weekly pace of new infections slowing to zero nationwide.
News of the CDC's investigations come a day after Chicago health officials warned they had tracked a resurgence of infections from mpox, formerly called monkeypox, many among fully vaccinated residents.
After the CDC's last tally on April 26, health officials had hailed the nationwide rolling average of new cases slowing to zero.
Since then, a total of 60 more cases have been reported to the CDC across eight states.
Two states have added more than a dozen infections to their tallies: 31 in Texas and 15 in Illinois. A handful more cases have also been reported in California, Louisiana, New York, Alabama, Florida and Oregon.
However, not all of these additional cases were actually diagnosed over the past two weeks.
"At least 17 of the newly reported cases are from 2022 and three are from January and February of this year," Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in an email.
Anton said the department had recently worked with a local jurisdiction "to reconcile some of their cases."
"The CDC also had an issue with processing our cases in their system recently so we believe that there may also be a few duplicate cases that were counted in the most recent data," added Anton.
Health officials have been warning for months that they feared a potential resurgence of mpox, especially around travel and gatherings linked to Pride festivities over the coming months.
CDC modeling earlier this year had predicted an ongoing risk of resurgent outbreaks across many U.S. communities which could be further worsened by waning immunity.
"Monkeypox virus infection and vaccination are likely to confer some immune protection for years, based on evidence from smallpox disease and vaccination," the agency's modelers wrote. "However, if this protection wanes quickly or does not effectively stop transmission of the virus, resurgent outbreaks would be more likely."
A cluster of mpox cases have been reported in the Chicago area, which means the virus is still spreading, and we need to continue to be alert. More than 50% of cases in the cluster have been in people who have been previously vaccinated. Getting vaccinated is still very important. No vaccine is 100% effective, and infections after vaccination are possible, but they may be milder and less likely to result in hospitalization.
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