Crypto News: Can kids get monkeypox?

Hey! Madison here, writing to you from NYC (though I'm a Chicagoan at heart). Monkeypox is gaining attention as the global outbreak grows to more than 4,700 cases — 351 of which are in the US. Experts are worried about what that might mean for kids. But first…

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Though monkeypox has been spreading primarily among men who have sex with men, health officials warn the virus can infect anyone — including women and children. And as the global outbreak grows, we're starting to see that happen.

So far, two pediatric monkeypox cases have been detected globally— out of thousands of cases, according to Krutika Kuppalli, an adviser to the WHO. One case was reported in France over the weekend and the other was reported in the Netherlands.

Another pediatric case may have occurred in Spain. The country's situation report lists the age range for its monkeypox patients as 3 to 67.

Blood samples are drawn from a boy in the Central African Republic Photographer: CHARLES BOUESSEL/AFP

It's important to keep in mind that monkeypox doesn't spread the same way as Covid, so for a child to get infected they'd likely need to have sustained, close contact with someone who has the virus, or come into direct contact with infectious sores. Pregnant people who are infected can also pass the virus on to their babies, research has shown.

Abraar Karan, an infectious disease expert at Stanford, told me there are still a lot of unknowns about how the virus is spreading and how it could present in kids.

Historically, in parts of Africa where monkeypox has long been endemic, pediatric cases are not uncommon. The first human case of the virus was actually identified in a child in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970, according to the WHO. The virus can also be more severe in kids, the organization has said.

Though the number of pediatric cases in this outbreak is, at the moment, very low, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday he's worried that sustained transmission suggests the virus is "establishing itself" and could move into high-risk groups such as immunocompromised and pregnant people.

In the US, experts have warned the stingy approach to testing could be missing more community spread of the virus.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pursuing a protocol that would allow use of Bavarian Nordic's monkeypox vaccine — Jynneos — in kids "should cases in children occur," CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said in an email. For now, though, the Biden administration's vaccination strategy remains targeted at eligible adults. -Madison Muller

Scores of patients have reported a rebound of Covid symptoms after treatment with Pfizer's antiviral drug, Paxlovid — including Biden's chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, Bloomberg's Riley Griffin reports.

A leading health system in Kansas City reversed course less than 24 hours after the Kansas City Star reported it was no longer providing access to emergency contraceptives.

Covid vaccine maker BioNTech plans to develop targeted antibiotics that could be used against superbugs, Bloomberg's Naomi Kresge reports.

Ask us anything — well, anything health-related that is! Each week we're picking a reader question and putting it to our network of experts. So get in touch via AskPrognosis@bloomberg.net.