Treatment and prevention of monkeypox

• Published in: Enfermedades infecciosas y microbiologia clinica
• Main Authors: de la Calle-Prieto, Fernando, Estébanez Muñoz, Miriam, Ramírez, Germán, Díaz-Menéndez, Marta, Velasco, María, Azkune Galparsoro, Harkaitz, Salavert Lletí, Miguel, Mata Forte, Tatiana, Blanco, José Luis, Mora-Rillo, Marta, Arsuaga, Marta, de Miguel Buckley, Rosa, Arribas, Jose Ramón, Membrillo, Francisco Javier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Spain 22.09.2022
• Subjects: Prevention; Virus; Antiviral agents; Smallpox; Vaccine
• ISSN: 1578-1852
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eimc.2022.08.001

Monkeypox is a zoonosis that is spread mainly through direct contact with fluids and skin lesions of infected people with vesicles still active. Although the virus was isolated for the first time in 1958 and the first human case was identified in a child in 1970, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the disease has progressively increased its incidence in Africa reaching in May 2022 sustained transmission outside this continent. As it is a newly introduced virus in our health system, it is necessary to learn the epidemiological pattern in a different environment from that of traditionally endemic areas and to know the available antiviral treatments, as well as the prophylactic measures that could be considered, knowing that as a virus emerging in our regions, scientific evidence is still limited. There are antivirals that have been shown, in animal models, to effectively combat the disease with very good clinical tolerance. This disease has also forced us to review the characteristics of smallpox vaccines, because they have shown a protective effect against monkeypox. For this reason, it is important to have a document that compiles all the scientific information published in this regard.