Smallpox jabs can provide lifetime protection from monkeypox: study
The smallpox vaccine that most people received as children have enough immunity against monkeypox for at least 88 years, an immunologist said.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Dr Chontavat Suvanpiyasiri, a dermato-immunologist at Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital, cited a study published in the American Journal of Medicine in 2008.
The study, “Immunity from Smallpox Vaccine Persists for Decades”, is available on https://bit.ly/3vOZZVp.
The study covered 246 people aged between 13 and 88, of whom 209 had been vaccinated against smallpox at least once, eight had got smallpox as children, while 29 had no history of infection or vaccination.
The study found that those vaccinated or previously infected recorded no drop in antibodies against the disease for up to 88 years. It also found that 97 per cent of the participants had enough immunity against smallpox.
Hence, the study concluded that most people who have been vaccinated against smallpox are immune to monkeypox, while those who received a booster jab did not have significantly higher immunity.
