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HealthDay News — Most patients hospitalized with severe manifestations of monkeypox have HIV infection, according to research published in the October 26 early-release issue of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Maureen J. Miller, MD, from the CDC Monkeypox Emergency Response Team, and colleagues summarized findings from clinical consultations provided for 57 adult patients hospitalized with severe manifestations of monkeypox during August 10 to October 10, 2022.
The researchers found that 47 patients (82%) had HIV infection, of whom 4 (9%) were receiving antiretroviral therapy before diagnosis of monkeypox. Ninety-five percent of the patients were men and 68% were non-Hispanic Black. Overall, 17 and 12 patients received intensive care unit-level care and died, respectively (30 and 21%). In 5 of these deaths, monkeypox was a cause of death or a contributing factor; 6 deaths are under investigation to determine whether monkeypox was causal or contributory to death, and in one case, monkeypox was ruled out as a causal or contributory factor.
“The occurrence of severe manifestations of monkeypox in patients who were most commonly immunocompromised because of AIDS highlights the importance of engaging all persons with HIV in sustained care and ending the HIV epidemic,” the authors write. “Clinicians should consider close clinical monitoring, early treatment with available medical countermeasures, and extension or escalation of therapy as indicated in patients with or at risk for severe monkeypox.”
