U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that it is investigating new mpox (monkeypox) cases across the country, less than a month after officials said new infections had slowed to zero.
Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of Chicago’s health department, said Tuesday, “Most weeks we didn’t see a single mpox case, maybe one or two in a higher week. But just these last couple of weeks we saw two, then five, now another six coming in.”
In an alert sent to healthcare providers, nine of the 13 newly discovered cases in the city that were either confirmed or suspected were in men who had received all of the recommended vaccinations.
According to reports, none of the 13 patients were admitted to a hospital. The Chicago Department of Health noted that four people had recently traveled outside of Chicago, including to Mexico, New York City, and New Orleans.
At-risk Americans are being urged to get two doses of the Jynneos vaccine to protect themselves from the virus, but all patients with symptoms should be tested regardless of vaccination status.
Last week the CDC said, “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.”
The last CDC tally, released on April 26, showed a downward trend in new cases nationwide.
Since then, the CDC has received reports of 60 additional cases spread across eight states.
