New study shows symptoms are making case identification more difficult
Categories: US NEWS
New study shows symptoms are making case identification more difficult
A new study released by the New England Journal of Medicine has revealed that monkeypox patients around the world are suffering from symptoms not usually associated with the virus. Not only does this lead to missed and misdiagnosed, cases do not conform to the definition of monkeypox issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the study, doctors are reporting some patients to only one lesion from the disease in different parts of the body, including the mouth as well as the genitals. The study, conducted in 16 countries, analyzed 528 cases of immunocompromised people with more severe symptoms. "Case identification is important, and we're not really equipped to recognize the disease," Bloomberg quoted study lead author Chloe Orkin as saying.
Monkeypox, which historically spread through contact with infected animals or household contacts in regions of West and Central Africa, has infected more than 15,000 people in a global outbreak. Many local health departments have already alerted health workers to the new symptom pattern because of its "unusual characteristics" in some cases.
While these symptoms include a lack of fever or swollen lymph nodes, it is mainly spread through close contact between men who have sex with men. The United States has hit a snag in vaccine distribution and public-health messaging after initial assurances that the country was prepared to deal with a monkeypox outbreak.
Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina and Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington have criticized the Biden administration's response to monkeypox, citing the Republican Party's bipartisan Prevention Epidemic Act.