According to the official official account of China Biologics, recently, Sinopharm Group's China Biologics Wuhan Institute of Biological Products successfully isolated the monkeypox virus strain from the patient's clinical samples and began research on vaccine and drug-related wo

Cover News Reporter Shao Meng Intern Gao Xinjun

Research related to monkeypox vaccine drugs in my country is put on the agenda. According to the official official account of China Biologics, recently, Sinopharm Group's China Biologics Wuhan Institute of Biological Products successfully isolated the monkeypox virus strain from the patient's clinical samples and began research on vaccine and drug-related work.

According to World Health Organization , as the public health emergency identified by the organization, since the UK Health Security Agency reported the first monkeypox case on May 7, the epidemic has spread to more than 100 countries, including multiple non-local epidemic countries. Cover News reporters checked the relevant policies announced by various countries and found that countries with a large number of infections such as the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Canada have purchased monkeypox vaccines and started vaccination.

Jin Dongyan, professor of the School of Biomedicine, University of Hong Kong and expert in virology, said in an interview with cover news that isolating the virus strain is the most basic material for vaccine research and development and drug research, and is the first step in vaccine research and development. Zhang Lunan, executive director of Aidiweixin Bio, who has been paying attention to vaccine development for a long time, pointed out that from isolating the virus strain to launching the vaccine research and development is a rigorous and complex process, and it usually takes at least 1-2 years to complete the entire research and development. Monkeypox virus seen under the microscope of

. Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Successfully isolate the monkeypox virus strain

What does it mean?

Monkeypox is a rare zoonotic disease caused by monkeypox virus. The clinical manifestations are mainly fever, rash, lymph node enlargement , etc.

According to Xinhua News Agency , WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on October 12 that the world has confirmed more than 70,000 monkeypox cases since the beginning of this year, and a total of 26 deaths. On September 16, the first confirmed case of monkeypox imported from abroad was also reported in mainland my country.

Jin Dongyan said that since there were no confirmed cases of monkeypox in my country, the latest wave of monkeypox virus strains were not obtained. The successful isolation of the strain this time provides basic materials for subsequent vaccine development and drug research, and is the first step in vaccine development.

Zhang Lunan said that both monkeypox virus and smallpox virus are orthopox viruses in the family Poxviral family and can form cross-immunity between them. A WHO study showed that smallpox vaccination is about 85% effective in preventing monkeypox. "This shows that using the original smallpox vaccine can achieve good protective effects."

Since this is the case, is it still necessary to develop a specific vaccine against monkeypox? Zhang Lunan introduced that the most direct impact of successful isolating monkeypox virus strain is that specific vaccines can be developed against monkeypox virus, which may be more protective. In addition, monkeypox virus may mutate during its transmission, resulting in immune escape. From a public health perspective, specific vaccines based on monkeypox virus strains may be less affected by possible mutations, which is considered to take precautionary measures in advance, so these studies are very meaningful.

After Germany reported confirmed cases of monkeypox, researchers worked in a laboratory in Munich, Germany. Xinhua News Agency issued

How far is it to be before my country's monkeypox vaccine

? Does the monkeypox virus strain successfully isolated from

Does it mean that the monkeypox vaccine is not far away? Two experts believe this is not the case.

Zhang Lunan pointed out that it is a rigorous and complex process from isolating the virus strain to the development and marketing of vaccines. In the past, it may take 8 to 10 years to develop conventional vaccines. Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, its vaccine release has accelerated. "Smallpox or monkeypox generally tend to use live attenuated vaccine technology. The time period of this technology may be a little longer than the inactivated vaccine , but relatively speaking, the development experience is already very rich. I think it may take at least 1-2 years to complete the entire research and development."

Jin Dongyan also said that there is currently no vaccine specifically developed for monkeypox virus in the world. The approved and recently promoted in Europe and the United States to prevent monkeypox is a non-replicative attenuated smallpox vaccine called MVA-BN.The reporter noticed that the vaccine was developed by Danish vaccine company Bavarian Nordic. In 2013, it was approved by EU for smallpox immunization in adults aged 18 and above, and in 2019, it was approved by US Food and Drug Administration for for marketing.

He pointed out that vaccines and drugs specifically targeting monkeypox virus are worth studying, but isolating the virus strain does not mean that the vaccine can be made soon. Normally, it may take years.

On July 30, people lined up at a monkeypox vaccination site in New York, USA. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Guo Ke)

. Many countries provide vaccines to people at high risk of monkeypox.

. Do we need large-scale vaccination?

As the monkeypox epidemic spreads in Europe and the United States, many countries such as the United States, Canada, and France have provided vaccination for people with higher risk of exposure to monkeypox. On September 21, the Hong Kong health department of my country announced that the plan for high-risk group vaccination of monkeypox vaccine will be launched on October 5.

Does my country need large-scale vaccination to prevent monkeypox? Jin Dongyan believes that it is not necessary at the moment. On the one hand, existing studies show that the monkeypox infection rate is low, and the global monkeypox epidemic is declining, and the possibility of large-scale transmission in China is very small. On the other hand, my country has the smallpox vaccine technology for Tiantan Plant, and it is not difficult to re-activate it or use it in the future. It can be used as a strategic reserve to strengthen the research and development of drugs and vaccines.

Zhang Lunan also believes that the monkeypox epidemic is not prevalent in China, and it is not necessary to get a widespread vaccination. Vaccination has economic costs, and a small number of people may have side effects, which is also unprofitable from the perspective of social health economics. In addition, people over 40 years old in China were widely vaccinated with smallpox vaccine in childhood, which may still have some persistent cross-protective effects on monkeypox.

The reporter noticed that the temporary guide to monkeypox vaccination released by the WHO on June 14 pointed out that large-scale vaccination of smallpox vaccine is not recommended at present, and only high-risk groups (such as who are close contact with monkeypox patients ) should consider vaccination. WHO also stated that although smallpox vaccines have been shown to have a preventive effect on monkeypox in the past, there is currently limited data on the effectiveness of novel smallpox/monkeypox vaccines in clinical practice and field settings.

my country is also strengthening the prevention and control of monkey pox. Xu Wenbo, director of the Institute of Virology Diseases of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at the press conference on , the State Council’s Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism on June 9 that China Disease Control has established a detection method for dual targets of monkeypox virus genes, and can promptly detect imported monkeypox cases. At a press conference on August 10, Dong Xiaoping, chief expert of China's disease control and virology, said that he would prepare for monkeypox diagnostic reagents, therapeutic drugs and vaccines to achieve early detection, early reporting, early isolation and early treatment.

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