Saima Younas1*, Samreen Arshad1, Muhammad Luqman Qadir1,
Atiqa Nosheen1, Zaryab Ikram Malik1, Zakria Shabbir1
1Centre for Applied Molecular Biology, University of the
Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
*For Correspondence
saima.camb@pu.edu.pk
First documented in 1958,
monkeypox is a serious zoonotic disease that affects human beings and its
symptoms include rash, fever, sore throat, headache, back discomfort, muscular
aches, low energy, and enlarged lymph nodes, and it is spread by human-to-animal
contact, person-to-person contact, and infected items. It is prevalent in
Africa and was verified to be causing an epidemic in May 2022. There are
currently no proven cures and vaccinations available for monkeypox infection.
The antivirals and vaccinations used to eradicate smallpox can also be used to
control monkeypox because the various orthopoxviruses are closely linked and
immune responses toward a single orthopoxvirus can recognize other
orthopoxviruses and protect against it. The objective of this manuscript was to
assess the effectiveness of smallpox antivirals and vaccinations against monkey
infection. To find pertinent articles on smallpox vaccines and antivirals used
to treat monkeypox, a systematic review was conducted. According to the data collected,
vaccinia immune globulin, replication-deficient smallpox vaccines,
replication-competent vaccinations, and smallpox antivirals (tecovirimat,
cidofovir, and brincidofovir) have shown to be quite successful against
monkeypox infections, in both animal models and human clinical trials. To
ascertain the specific role that orthopoxvirus inhibitors and smallpox
immunizations play in human monkeypox infections, it is recommended to
repurpose these vaccines and antiviral drugs and to carry out more research in
human models.
Keywords
Smallpox, Monkeypox, Vaccinations, Tecovirimat, Cidofovir
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