Suburban counties start receiving monkeypox vaccine as more cases confirmed

Kane is the most recent suburban county to receive doses of the monkeypox vaccine after recording two confirmed cases.

On Monday, Kane County Health Department officials said the JYNNEOS vaccine will be given to those who have had close contact with a confirmed case. Doses also will be given to those belonging to high-risk priority groups.

Monkeypox is a virus that generally spreads through close or intimate contact. Symptoms are similar to smallpox and can include rash, fever, headache, chills, swollen lymph nodes and exhaustion.

Cook County reported receiving an allotment of the vaccine on July 8. At that time, the county had seven confirmed cases and 12 contacts.

The first case in the United States was confirmed on May 18. It has been detected in most states throughout the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of July 15, 1,814 cases had been recorded in the U.S. Illinois has the third-most cases by state with 174, ranking behind New York and California. No deaths have been associated with the outbreak in the U.S.

The JYNNEOS vaccine was approved in 2019 for the prevention of smallpox and monkeypox in adults 18 years of age and older. It is currently the only FDA-approved vaccine for the prevention of monkeypox. The vaccine uses non-replicating, live virus technology and is a two-dose series with 28 days between doses.

The vaccine allocation was received through an Illinois Department of Public Health initiative to counties with one or more confirmed cases.

Officials from The McHenry County Department of Health released a statement Saturday that said the virus had been identified in an adult "who met initial criteria for the disease and has a positive orthopoxvirus result." The CDC will need to confirm the case.

Kane County health officials are working with multiple health care providers to begin offering the vaccine.

Visit kanehealth.com/Pages/Monkeypox.aspx for more information.