The children were described as being in good health and receiving treatment. How they contracted the disease is under investigation, but officials believe it was through domestic transmission.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Georgia has the fifth highest number of cases of monkeypox in the country. Georgia’s first case was announced in early June. While some of the cases here were associated with international travel, the more recent cases have had no travel history, according to DPH.
The number of confirmed cases is rising rapidly here and around the world. The World Health Organization on Saturday declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency. Afterward, the Biden administration said it is weighing whether to declare the nation’s monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency and also plans to name a White House coordinator to oversee the response as officials try to avoid may the virus be fixed in the United States.
The total number of confirmed cases for the US com as of Tuesday afternoon there were 3,487 cases, according to the CDC. Case counts in the United States and worldwide include laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox and infections attributed to an orthopoxvirus, the genus of virus that includes monkeypox.
As the number of cases of monkeypox continues to rise in Georgia, vaccines against the infectious disease began to be administered more widely at local health departments this week, but demand has far outstripped supply, with vaccine appointments filling up in some cases within minutes.
Georgia has received approximately 6,000 doses of vaccine, enough for 3,000 people to receive the two-dose series. The federal government has allocated a total of 13,876 doses for the state, with several thousand more doses expected to arrive in the coming days.
The federal government’s monkeypox vaccine allocations will increase as production of the vaccine increases.
The monkeypox vaccine can help prevent disease and also reduce the severity of the disease for those who are already infected.
The CDC recommends vaccination for people who have been in close contact with someone with the virus or if they suspect they may have been exposed to the virus, such as having multiple sexual partners in an area with known cases of monkeypox.
While anyone can contract monkeypox through close contact with someone infected, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday, this outbreak appears to be concentrated in men who have sex with men, and especially in those with multiple partners.
Men who have sex with men should be prioritized to be among the first group to receive the smallpox vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.
Infections with the type of monkeypox virus identified in this outbreak, the West African type, are rarely fatal, according to the CDC. More than 99% of people who get this form of monkeypox are likely to survive. However, people with weakened immune systems, children younger than 8, people with a history of eczema, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding may be more likely to get seriously ill or die, according to the CDC.
