DALLAS — Data shows a decline in monkeypox cases across Dallas and Tarrant counties.
“What we're seeing right now, I think, is good news,” said Prism Health North Texas CEO Dr. John Carlo.
Prism Health received 300 monkeypox vaccine doses from Dallas County in August and has been administering shots over the past month.
“Particularly in the last couple of weeks, we've noticed far fewer patients coming in that are having symptoms consisting with MPV or monkeypox," Dr. Carlo said.
Dallas County data shows just 30 monkeypox cases were reported from Sept. 6-13.
Looking back at the numbers for August, there were days the county was reporting over 20 cases daily.
“We certainly are very, very happy to see fewer cases of infections, which is a great thing,” Dr. Carlo said. “However, that shouldn't stop our awareness and the importance of receiving the vaccine if you are in the groups that are indicated and really maintaining that vigilance overall in our community.”
So what’s causing the drop in cases?
Dr. Carlo said it could be that enough people have gotten vaccinated so there’s immunity in the community. He added it also could be the declining number of “summertime events that have been large gatherings in places where we have seen a lot of MPV cases happening” this time of year.
Tarrant County health officials are noticing a trend in monkeypox cases, too. During his monkeypox update presentation Tuesday, public health director Vinny Taneja told county commissioners it’s "starting to look like we’re leveling out."
Tarrant County is reporting 17 monkeypox cases for all of last week. That's down from the 27 cases that were reported for the week ending Sept. 3.
Taneja said he estimates between 2,500-3,000 monkeypox vaccine doses have been administered in the county.
"Overall the work is continuing on and seemingly we’re stabilizing on that outbreak here in the county," said Taneja.
While this is good news, health officials don’t want the community to let its guard down.
“We've got to stay focused on how we can prevent cases from happening," Dr. Carlo said. “We really want to stay guarded about the potential that cases could go right back up again."
For information on how to get a monkeypox vaccine in Dallas County, click here.
For information on how to get a monkeypox vaccine in Tarrant County, click here.
For more information on Prism Health, click here.