Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Tim Hanlon

Toddler tests positive for monkeypox despite 'not seeing other kids' as experts baffled

A child under two has caught monkeypox with stunned health officials now keen to find out how it was transmitted.

Monkeypox’s rapid spread is a global threat with more than 3,000 Brits now having come down with the virus normally native to West Africa.

While anyone can pick up the virus, those at most threat are men in the gay community and a vaccine has been targeted at those most at risk.

The virus has also been spreading quickly in the United States and the state of Texas has now revealed that a toddler has tested positive.

So far it is unclear how the child, aged under two, has picked up monkeypox with the family having said that the child has not been attending nursery school or been mixing with other kids.

Health officials are now keen to find out how the toddler caught the virus (REUTERS)

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that the child was asymptomatic and was expected to make a complete recovery.

“We confirmed just yesterday that a child, a young child in our community is a presumptive positive for the monkeypox virus,” she told a press conference.

“I say a presumptive positive because all our cases are presumptive positives until we get complete confirmation from the CDCP (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). But to put it into context we have not yet had a presumptive positive that has not then become a confirmed case.”

It is expected to be a week before it is completely confirmed and the child is asymptomatic apart from a rash.

Now health officials are trying to establish the “mode of transmission”.

Patients in the UK who are eligible for the smallpox vaccine used to combat monkeypox will be offered smaller doses (Getty Images)

Judge Hidalgo added: “This case in Harris County is one of only a handful of cases in young children nationwide. I understand that it’s a very scary thing and parents have concern.”

In the UK patients eligible for the smallpox vaccine used to combat monkeypox will be offered smaller doses as part of a pilot scheme amid constrained supplies.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said three NHS sites will begin administering "fractional doses" to stretch supplies and protect up to five times more people.

Under the approach, eligible people aged 18 and over will be offered a 0.1ml dose of the smallpox Jynneos vaccine, instead of the 0.5ml dose which is typically administered for monkeypox.

Clinical studies have shown the smaller doses provide a near-identical immune response in patients, according to the UKHSA and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), who reviewed the evidence jointly.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.