WILTON MANORS – A drug is available for monkeypox patients who have severe disease or who are at risk for it, but doctors say the drug continues to be hard to get. This, as three states have declared public health emergencies.
“The U.S. is now leading the world when it comes to the total number of cases,” said former Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen.
Across the United States, more than 5,800 confirmed cases, with the virus found in every state but two – Wyoming and Montana.
According to the CDC, TPOXX is considered an experimental treatment for monkeypox.
It was FDA approved for smallpox, a virus in the same family.
While there’s no human trial data to prove it’s effective in treating monkeypox, the CDC says doctors may want to use TPOXX in those with symptoms in hazardous areas, like the eyes, in people with severe symptoms, like sepsis, or people at risk of severe illness, like those who are immunocompromised.
“Anecdotally, two, three doses of this TPOXX medicine is really making a difference and these lesions are just melting away,” said Dr. Stacy Lane, founder of the Pittsburgh’s Central Outreach Wellness Center.
The U.S. government stockpiled nearly 2 million doses of the drug in case of a bioterrorism event.
Despite the CDC and FDA cutting some red tape for monkeypox patients to get the antiviral drug, some say it’s still hard to access.
“You’re talking about a five-, six-day time lag to get that medication to you at a local doctor’s office, no matter where you are. And the paperwork, and all of the bureaucracy to make that happen, is very cumbersome, takes a few hours of your time. And that’s the barrier,” explained Dr. Lane.
Although some doctors have reported cases in which they think TPOXX may have been beneficial, the CDC says evidence of how well it works in humans has been limited to “drug levels in blood” and “a few case studies.”