Austin Public Health reported to the Travis County Commissioners Court on August 23 that the county had received 5,154 vials of the Jynneos vaccine and had delivered 1,820 of them to community health care providers. TPOXX, an antiviral drug used to treat smallpox, is also available in 100 bottles in Travis County.
According to Pilar Sanchez, the county executive for health and human services, APH has delivered 926 immunizations, while CommUnity Care administered over 2,000 shots at the Austin Pride Festival on Aug. 20.
According to APH, there are 34 confirmed cases, 76 probable cases, and 32 people awaiting test results for monkeypox in Travis County.
There are 585 people who have had close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with monkeypox, and 274 people who are being watched by the APH nurse line.
According to Dr. Desmar Walkes, the city’s medical director and health authority, presumptive and proven cases should be handled similarly.
Confirmed cases are those that were positive with a particular PCR test, whereas presumptive cases are those that were positive with an orthopoxvirus test. According to Walkes, testing is only given to patients who have obvious rashes.
Eligibility
APH developed a prioritised list of who is eligible for the immunisation.
Individuals with monkeypox who had a sexual relationship in the last 14 days or who had several sexual partners in the last 14 days in a jurisdiction with known monkeypox are prioritised.
Priority number two is reserved for cisgender or transgender guys who have had sex with men.
Priority 3 includes men who had multiple or anonymous sexual partners in the previous 21 days; anyone with a sexual partner who is showing signs of monkeypox; people taking HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis; people diagnosed with HIV, early syphilis, chlamydia, or gonorrhoea in the previous year; and those with a condition like eczema or atopic dermatitis that is associated with an increased risk of monkeypox.
Anyone who satisfies the requirements should call the APH nurse line at 512-972-5560.
Outreach
According to Cassandra DeLeon, APH’s chief administrative officer, health officials are attempting to make monkeypox treatment as accessible as possible.
Commissioners passed a proposal to examine increasing Travis County’s COVID-19 vaccination contract with Ascension Seton to include monkeypox vaccines during the meeting.
Furthermore, DeLeon stated that providers are trying to start a vaccination clinic inside a Rainey Street pub next month.
APH is also gathering regional data on vaccine allocation, according to Walkes, a priority highlighted by Commissioner Jeff Travillion during the Aug. 16 meeting.
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