Thursday, September 28, 2023
SCIENMAG: Latest Science and Health News
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag - Latest science news from science magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home SCIENCE NEWS Medicine & Health

Monkeypox outbreaks associated with human-to-human transmission outside endemic areas

September 22, 2022
in Medicine & Health
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Since May 2022, cases of monkeypox have increased globally, stirring fears of a new pandemic. A study published in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens on September 22nd by Professor Souha Kanj and colleagues at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon, presents synthesized descriptions of its clinical characteristics, risk factors, infection control and prevention measures, as well as potential treatments.

Monkeypox outbreaks associated with human-to-human transmission outside endemic areas

Credit: Monstera, Pexels (CC0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

Since May 2022, cases of monkeypox have increased globally, stirring fears of a new pandemic. A study published in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens on September 22nd by Professor Souha Kanj and colleagues at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon, presents synthesized descriptions of its clinical characteristics, risk factors, infection control and prevention measures, as well as potential treatments.

Historically, monkeypox was mostly confined to endemic areas in Western and Central Africa and was mostly transmitted through contact with infected animals. However, human-to-human transmission has recently become the primary mode of transmission, raising concerns for previous undetected community spread. To better understand the epidemiologic landscape of this emerging outbreak, the authors conducted a literature review of the available evidence on monkeypox. They found that during the current outbreak, confirmed, probable, and/or possible monkeypox cases have increased tenfold across more than seventy-six countries. The data suggest an increase in the disease incidence and possible improved surveillance. Current cases showed a rapid human-to-human transmission, raising concerns for rapid community spread, though not necessarily related to travel to endemic areas in Africa.

The literature review has several limitations, including the small sample size of case studies and the absence of randomized controlled trials on monkeypox therapy, both of which limit generalizability. Larger and more robust studies are needed to determine the specific risk factors, transmission modes, and potential therapeutics, as well as the scope of the current outbreak.

According to the authors, “Key gap information needs to be further studied to provide better answers such as the exact mode of transmission and the role of animal reservoirs. Sexual modes of transmission, genetic mutations, waning immunity from smallpox and previous undetected cases of monkeypox warrant further investigation. Doctors should also keep in mind the atypical presentations and rely on the WHO and CDC criteria to guide patients and help in containing outbreaks”.

Kanj and co-authors add, “Monkeypox has been declared as a public health emergency that warrants special attention and early diagnosis in view of its global widespread and atypical presentation.”

############

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS Pathogens: http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1010768

Citation: El Eid R, Allaw F, Haddad SF, Kanj SS (2022) Human monkeypox: A review of the literature. PLoS Pathog 18(9): e1010768. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1010768

Author Countries: Lebanon

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this manuscript.



Journal

PLoS Pathogens

DOI

10.1371/journal.ppat.1010768

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

Not applicable

COI Statement

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Tags: areasendemichumantohumanmonkeypoxoutbreakstransmission
Share26Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • blank

    Null results research now published by major behavioral medicine journal

    1059 shares
    Share 424 Tweet 265
  • Important additional driver of insect decline identified: Weather explains the decline and rise of insect biomass over 34 years

    70 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • Fish reveal cause of altered human facial development

    67 shares
    Share 27 Tweet 17
  • New study definitively confirms gulf stream weakening, understanding the changes could help predict future trends in extreme events

    69 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 17
  • New findings on hair loss in men

    82 shares
    Share 33 Tweet 21
  • UCLA-led team develops key improvement to Nobel Prize-winning technology

    64 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

We bring you the latest science news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Latest NEWS

Null results research now published by major behavioral medicine journal

New findings on hair loss in men

Important additional driver of insect decline identified: Weather explains the decline and rise of insect biomass over 34 years

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 208 other subscribers

© 2023 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US

© 2023 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In