Symptoms, which include genital lesions and sores in the mouth or anus, can be severe and have led some sufferers to be hospitalized for pain management and difficulty swallowing, researchers say. But lesions or sores can easily be misdiagnosed, scientists warn. Since monkeypox began spreading rapidly around the world in May, there have now been more than 15,000 cases worldwide, prompting the World Health Organization to reconsider whether to declare it a global crisis. Research has shown that it mutates up to 12 times faster than expected. Gay and bisexual men account for 98 percent of infections. Although sexual proximity is the most likely route of transmission, the virus can also be spread by close contact through large inhaled droplets and possibly through clothing and other surfaces. Commonly reported symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, exhaustion, and pimples or blisters on the face, mouth, and other parts of the body. But now the largest analysis to date, based on an examination of more than 500 cases and published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), has found that many people who became infected suffered from symptoms not listed in the medical definitions of monkeypox. Experts at Queen Mary University of London and others from 16 countries involved in the research say their work will aid diagnosis and help slow the global spread through public health intervention targeting the high-risk group. They say that once someone is diagnosed, contact tracing and advising them to self-isolate will be key to limiting the spread of the disease because there is a global shortage of vaccines and misdiagnosis hampers work to control its spread. Earlier this month, separate research published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal also showed that monkeypox can mimic other common STIs such as herpes and syphilis. The study also found that a quarter of the patients had another STD. Chloe Orkin, Professor of HIV Medicine at Queen Mary University of London, said: “Current international case definitions need to be expanded to add symptoms that are not currently included, such as sores in the mouth, anal mucosa and isolated ulcers . “These particular symptoms can be serious and have led to hospital admissions, so it’s important to get a diagnosis.” John Thornhill, consultant sexual health and HIV doctor at Barts NHS Health Trust, said: “While we expected various skin problems and rashes, we also found that one in 10 people had just one skin lesion in the genital area and 15 per cent had pain in the anus and/or rectum. “These different presentations highlight that monkeypox infections could be missed or easily confused with common sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis or herpes.” He said they also found the monkeypox virus in a large percentage of semen samples from infected individuals. “However, this may be coincidental, as we do not know that it is present at high enough levels to facilitate sexual transmission. More work is needed to better understand this.” Claire Dewsnapp, of the British Association for Sexual Health, called for measures to co-ordinate the UK’s response to monkeypox, as well as more funding to contain and eradicate it, including getting vaccines and a national plan for testing. treatment and prevention.
