An urgent call to address the intersection of mpox and HIV in Africa

Since the clade 1b mpox epidemic was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in August, 2024, The Lancet journals have published papers1,2 calling for urgent action and support for African countries facing current or potential mpox outbreaks. During the 2022 clade 2b PHEIC, The Lancet sounded an alarm on the over-representation of people with HIV among mpox diagnoses and described advanced or untreated HIV as a strong predictor for severe mpox complications.6 Since 2022, it has become clear that the Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) vaccine is highly effective against mpox, although no data on its effectiveness among people with HIV existed until our analysis,7 which showed a high level of effectiveness specifically in this population. AES has received grants from Merck through her institution as a clinical trials investigator, unrelated to this Correspondence; is supported in part by the US NIH (grant number K23 AI140918); has received travel support from the NIH and Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le SIDA (ANRS; National Agency for AIDS Research, France); and has participated on a data safety monitoring board or advisory board for ANRS.