"smallpox"

The smallpox vaccine that most people received as children have enough immunity against monkeypox for at least 88 years, an immunologist said.

The smallpox vaccines in storage with the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) are still valid and can be used if there is a monkeypox outbreak, the Public Health Ministry said.

The Defence Ministry has trained its sights on tackling Covid-19 and monkeypox during the current long holiday and is ready to set up field hospitals if the number of coronavirus patients shoots up.

Half a million doses of smallpox vaccine that have been in cold storage for the past 40 years are safe to use to prevent monkeypox, health authorities said on Friday.

Thailand has expressed interest in obtaining monkeypox vaccines but only as a “preparatory” step as they are not necessary at the moment, Department of Disease Control (DDC) director-general Dr Opas Karnkawinpong said on Tuesday.

A leading virologist explained there are differences between the spread of monkeypox in Africa and in Europe.

A leading virologist has offered good news and bad news about Thailand’s effort to prevent an outbreak of monkeypox after the disease spread to more than 30 countries on Thursday.

Twelve people who came into contact with a confirmed monkeypox patient are low-risk contacts as they have no symptoms, the Disease Control Department (DDC) said on Thursday.

A new vaccine could help fight the third generation of smallpox and monkeypox, a leading virologist explained.

Many countries have been administering smallpox vaccines to contain the spread of monkeypox, Dr Thiravat Hemachudha, chief of Chulalongkorn University's Information Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, said on Monday.

A top Thai virologist said on Tuesday that it will be difficult to contain the spread of monkeypox because it has mild symptoms and can spread easily through intercourse.

Twelve persons are under close surveillance after they came into contact with a confirmed monkeypox patient who took a transit flight from Thailand, the Public Health Ministry announced on Monday.