India working on developing monkeypox vaccine

The Serum Institute of India (SII), the country's largest vaccine developer, is actively working on creating a vaccine for the mpox virus, also known as monkeypox.

The vaccine is anticipated to be ready by the end of the year, Caliber.Az reports, citing Indian media.

"In light of the global health situation declared due to the mpox outbreak, we are developing a vaccine for this disease. We hope to achieve positive results by the end of this year," said SII Director Adar Poonawalla, as quoted by the publication.

The National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune has emerged as the leading medical institution in India for researching mpox samples. This research has been ongoing since 2022, when India recorded 30 cases of monkeypox.

Mpox, caused by the monkeypox virus, has garnered global attention after multiple outbreaks were reported in various countries starting in 2022. While the disease is primarily endemic to parts of Central and West Africa, recent outbreaks have been observed in non-endemic countries, including several in Europe and North America. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in July 2022, which led to increased global efforts to control the spread of the virus.

Among key symptoms of the virus are fever, headache, muscle ache, backpain, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, and skin lesions.

India reported its first cases of mpox in mid-2022, prompting health authorities to ramp up surveillance and research efforts. The last reported case of Mpox in India was in March 2024, from Kerala. Since the beginning of the outbreak in 2022, India has recorded a total of 30 confirmed Mpox cases.