Thread by @LizHighleyman

And now at #CROI2023, a special session on #monkeypox/#mpox.
John Brooks of @CDCgov: Mpox decline has not been even in all places -- we need to keep our eye on places where it hasn’t declined as much & need to stay vigilant for reemergence.

I'm not going to try to live-tweet this one & didn't request advance permission to share slides.

John Brooks (@CDCgov): Let’s get people vaccinated against #monkeypox/#mpox now, before spring & summer. Summer means Pride, Pride means a lot of fun, a lot of fun means a lot of sex. #CROI2023

I'm not going to learn orthopox (#monkeypox/#mpox virus family) virology this morning. My notes from Stuart Isaacs' (@PennMedicine) talk just say "Much viral life cycle & genealogy wonkery."🙂 #CROI2023

Interesting: Isaacs says #mpox fills up cells like a "bag of marbles." TPOXX targets a very early step & changes the virus/host balance back to the host so the immune system clears it. That’s why we’re seeing bad outcomes in immunocompromised people.
aidsmap.com/news/feb-2023/…

Stuart Isaacs: The #monkeypox/#mpox outbreak in Nigeria really was a missed opportunity -- it was clear something different was happening. If the world had focused on that, we might not have had the 2022 global outbreak. #CROI2023

Sharon Frey's #CROI2023 talk on history of smallpox & #mpox vaccination is fascinating. In US, smallpox vaccination ended in 1972. In 2003, a plan to vaccinate in the absence of disease was hatched due to fear of bioterrorism during Iraq war. #CROI2023

Comment from gay member of HVTN advisory board: LGBTQ community felt very let down. Felt abandoned & had to take care of ourselves. If you’d asked the community, we could have told you what was going on.