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By Beth Stibal |

Martin County Health Officials: First child under four contracts monkey pox in Florida

Monkeypox
This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. Monkeypox, a disease that rarely appears outside Africa, has been identified by European and American health authorities in recent days. (Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP)

(MARTIN COUNTY, FLA) —  Martin County health officials are reporting that the first child in Florida under the age of four has contracted monkey pox.

In all 1,266 infections have been reported statewide with nine juveniles cases.

On Monday, the Florida Department of Health’s Reportable Disease Frequency Report listed the case of the infectious disease.

So far, six cases have been reported in Martin County and three in St. Lucie County on the Treasure Coast.

Miami-Dade has the most cases with 493, Broward at 436 and Palm Beach County at 59 cases.

Twenty-eight of the state’s 67 counties have reported at least one case.

Meanwhile, FIU infectious diseases specialist Dr.  Aileen Marty says she doubts a new monkey pox vaccine policy will work.

The FDA is advising local health departments to inject the vaccine between layers of skin.

This intradermal injection method requires only a fifth of the full vaccine dose, and the FDA says this will stretch the vaccine supply.

Dr. Marty says there’s not a lot of data to support this new approach, and that worries her tremendously.