“In May I would start vaccination against monkey smallpox”

It is contemplated that the 25,000 doses that Colombia will receive from Japan in the coming weeks will be administered under a vaccination scheme of an injectable dose that contains genetic material of the virus; In this way, it is sought to trigger an immune response in those who receive it and avoid the conditions that it causes, such as secondary infections, bronchopneumonia, encephalitis and corneal infection.

The infectious disease doctor Carlos Álvarez, professor at the UNAL Faculty of Medicine and national coordinator of studies on COVID-19, reiterates that “the protection time and other information that is important to know is still unknown, and it is precisely what is think of Colombia with these studies”.

The LC16 vaccine is from the Japanese company KM Biologics and was developed in cooperation between industry, academia, and the Government of Japan. This is one of the three available and recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the prevention of Mpox infection of zoonotic origin that is transmitted mainly by direct or indirect contact with blood, body fluids, and skin lesions. fur.

It is worth clarifying that although these vaccines were not specially designed for this contagious disease, but for human smallpox, they have been adjusted to attenuate virulence in this specific case.

Professor Álvarez clarifies that “until now the information on the behavior of the vaccines is being known, and for this reason it is necessary to do it through research processes.”

How is the research protocol going?

This week researchers from UNAL, the Colombian Ministry of Health, the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Japanese National Institute of Infectious Diseases met to define adjustments to the implementation strategy of the vaccination program.

In the meetings, issues of the research protocol and the technical aspects involved in managing the vaccine, its application and the recording of information that is key to determining its safety and efficacy were discussed.

According to WHO recommendations, in situations of pandemic or epidemic outbreaks, as is the case in this case, said plans and clinical studies must be carried out to implement the respective strategies, whether for treatments or vaccines, and so that governments around the world can take conclusions about its use.

“Japanese researchers agree with the issues we have been working on and are awaiting compliance with the requirements established by national and international entities so that the program can be carried out effectively,” says Professor Gaitán.

It also reiterates that the ethical and professional standards are high and contemplate respect for the rights of patients by complying with international standards for this type of study, which ensure that the process is carried out with the highest quality standards. .

“A sequential open randomized controlled study assembled in the vaccine application program has been designed, which allows evaluating its benefits and strictly determining its safety and efficacy.”

For the moment, the experts indicate that they will continue working together as has been done up to now, to provide the safest and most timely solution to this virus, in the event of a second outbreak.