LAUSR

Understanding the effectiveness of smallpox vaccines against mpox in humans can inform public health preparedness for mpox prophylaxis during the 2022 outbreak. However, the efficacy of current vaccines against mpox has been inferred from animal and immunogenicity studies and has barely been demonstrated in human clinical trials. Thus, we conducted a systematic literature review to estimate the real-world effectiveness of mpox vaccines. The study showed a pooled estimate of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.86-0.91) for the third-generation smallpox vaccine (MVA-BN) effectiveness during the 2022 outbreak. The results showed that the incidence of mpox was significantly lower in the vaccinated group than in the unvaccinated group. Considering the potential mutations, side effects, and breakthrough infections, it is recommended to develop a next-generation vaccine that is more effective and safer for future mpox outbreaks.