2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Spain

The 2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Spain is a part of the outbreak of human mpox caused by the West African clade of the monkeypox virus. Spain was the second country outside the African countries with endemic mpox, to experience an outbreak in 2022. The outbreak was first reported in Spain on 18 May 2022.[1]

2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Spain
DiseaseMpox
Virus strainMonkeypox virus (West African clade)
LocationSpain
Index caseMadrid[1]
Arrival date18 May 2022 (1 year and 2 days ago)[1]
DateAs of 19 July 2022
Confirmed cases
Suspected cases‡0 (Regional governments)
Hospitalized cases155 (Ministry of Health)[2]
Deaths
2 (Ministry of Health)[2]
Government website
Monkeypox alert in Spain and other European countries
(in Spanish)
‡Suspected cases have not been confirmed by laboratory tests as being due to this strain, although some other strains may have been ruled out.

Background
These paragraphs are an excerpt from Mpox and 2022–2023 mpox outbreak.

Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox)[3] is an infectious viral disease that can occur in humans and some other animals.[4] Symptoms include a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over, fever, and swollen lymph nodes.[4] The time from exposure to onset of symptoms ranges from five to twenty-one days and symptoms typically last from two to four weeks.[5][6] There may be mild symptoms, and it may occur without any symptoms being apparent.[5][7] Cases may be severe, especially in children, pregnant women or people with suppressed immune systems.[8]

The disease is caused by the monkeypox virus,[lower-alpha 1] a zoonotic virus in the genus Orthopoxvirus.[9] The variola virus, the causative agent of smallpox, is also in this genus.[10] It may spread from infected animals by handling infected meat or via bites or scratches.[11] Human-to-human transmission can occur through exposure to infected body fluids or contaminated objects, by small droplets, and possibly through the airborne route.[4][11] People can spread the virus from the onset of symptoms until all the lesions have scabbed and fallen off; with some evidence of spread for more than a week after lesions have crusted.[12] Diagnosis can be confirmed by testing a lesion for the virus's DNA.[13]

There is no known cure.[14] A study in 1988 found that the smallpox vaccine was around 85% protective in preventing infection in close contacts and in lessening the severity of the disease.[15] A newer smallpox and mpox vaccine based on modified vaccinia Ankara has been approved, but with limited availability.[5] Other measures include regular hand washing and avoiding sick people and animals.[16] Antiviral drugs, cidofovir and tecovirimat, vaccinia immune globulin and the smallpox vaccine may be used during outbreaks.[17][18] The illness is usually mild and most of those infected will recover within a few weeks without treatment.[18] Estimates of the risk of death vary from 1% to 10%, although few deaths as a consequence of mpox have been recorded since 2017.[19]

An ongoing outbreak of mpox was confirmed on 6 May 2022, beginning with a British resident who, after travelling to Nigeria (where the disease is endemic), presented symptoms consistent with mpox on 29 April 2022. The resident returned to the United Kingdom on 4 May, creating the country's index case of the outbreak.[20] The origin of several of the cases of mpox in the United Kingdom is unknown. Some monitors saw community transmission taking place in the London area as of mid-May,[21] but it has been suggested that cases were already spreading in Europe in the previous months.[22]

Transmission
Stages of lesion development.

A large portion of those infected were believed to have not recently traveled to areas of Africa where mpox is normally found, such as Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as central and western Africa. It is believed to be transmitted by close contact with sick people, with extra caution for those individuals with lesions on their skin or genitals, along with their bedding and clothing. The CDC has also stated that individuals should avoid contact and consumption of dead animals such as rats, squirrels, monkeys and apes along with wild game or lotions derived from animals in Africa.[23]

In addition to more common symptoms, such as fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and rashes or lesions, some patients have also experienced proctitis, an inflammation of the rectum lining. CDC has also warned clinicians to not rule out mpox in patients with sexually transmitted infections since there have been reports of co-infections with syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and herpes.[24]

History

On 18 May 2022, the Community of Madrid regional government reported the first eight suspected cases of mpox, and seven of them were confirmed by the Ministry of Health on 20 May.[1]

On 20 May, the health authorities of Madrid closed the gay sauna Paraíso, which was under investigation as a possible high transmission point in Madrid.[25][26] The sauna reopened again on 9 June after receiving an authorization from the regional health department.[27][28]

Outbreak characteristics

According to the Community of Madrid regional government on 6 June 2022, all cases in the region were men, except one woman who is cohabitant with one of the infected men. The most likely contagion event for most was sexual relations with strangers, usually at parties in private residences, a sauna, or the gay pride event at Maspalomas, Canary Islands. 48% of cases were also HIV-positive.[29]

On 10 June, the Ministry of Health disclosed that out of a sample of 78 cases, 21 had a previous smallpox vaccine dose.[30]

On 26 August, the Ministry of Health published additional data about 6,459 cases. 6,334 of them were men, and 125 were women. Age ranged between 7 months and 88 years, with a median age of 37 years. Out of 5,198 cases with recorded data, 5,022 were men who have sex with men. Out of 3,700 cases with recorded data, 92,6% had prolonged intimate contact during sexual relation as the most likely transmission mechanism.[31]

LGBT stigmatization

Several experts have raised concerns about stigmatization of LGBT people in connection to the mpox outbreak.[32]

In June 2022, the public prosecutor of Valencia opened an investigation of a publication about the mpox outbreak by the far-right political party España 2000, which could constitute hate speech against the LGBT community.[33]

Cases per region
Mpox cases in Spain per autonomous community
Community Confirmed Suspected As of Ref.
Andalusia Andalusia 685 96 12 August 2022 [34]
Aragon Aragon 53 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Asturias Asturias 53 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Balearic Islands Balearic Islands 134 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Canary Islands Canary Islands 136 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Cantabria Cantabria 27 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Castilla–La Mancha Castilla–La Mancha 42 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Castile and León Castile and León 54 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Catalonia Catalonia 1,782 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Ceuta Ceuta — — 12 August 2022 [2]
Valencian Community Valencian Community 353 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Extremadura Extremadura 22 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Galicia (Spain) Galicia 83 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Community of Madrid Community of Madrid 2,169 — 12 August 2022 [35]
Melilla Melilla — — 12 August 2022 [2]
Region of Murcia Murcia 33 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Navarre Navarre 13 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Basque Country (autonomous community) Basque Country 162 — 12 August 2022 [2]
La Rioja La Rioja 4 — 12 August 2022 [2]
Total 5,805 96

See also

Notes
  1. The World Health Organization (the authority on disease names) announced the new name "mpox" in November 2022. But virus naming is the responsibility of the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), who are currently reviewing all orthopoxvirus species. As of March 2023, the official name of the virus remains "monkeypox virus".[3]

References
  1. "Casos de viruela del mono en España y en el mundo, estadísticas y gráficos". epdata (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 June 2022.
  2. "Alerta sobre infección de viruela de los monos en España y otros países no endémicos" (PDF). Ministry of Health (in Spanish). 12 August 2022.
  3. "WHO recommends new name for monkeypox disease" (Press release). World Health Organization (WHO). 28 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  4. "Multi-country monkeypox outbreak: situation update". www.who.int. World Health Organization (WHO). 4 June 2022. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  5. "WHO Factsheet – Monkeypox". World Health Organization (WHO). 19 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  6. "Signs and Symptoms Monkeypox". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 11 May 2015. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  7. Sutcliffe, Catherine G.; Rimone, Anne W.; Moss, William J. (2020). "32.2. Poxviruses". In Ryan, Edward T.; Hill, David R.; Solomon, Tom; Aronson, Naomi; Endy, Timothy P. (eds.). Hunter's Tropical Medicine and Emerging Infectious Diseases E-Book (Tenth ed.). Edinburgh: Elsevier. pp. 272–277. ISBN 978-0-323-55512-8.
  8. "Multi-country monkeypox outbreak in non-endemic countries". World Health Organization. 21 May 2022. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  9. Taha, M. J., Abuawwad, M. T., Alrubasy, W. A., Sameer, S. K., Alsafi, T., Al-Bustanji, Y., ... & Nashwan, A. J. Ocular manifestations of recent viral pandemics: A literature. health, 13, 14.
  10. Petersen, Brett W.; Damon, Inger K. (2020). "348. Smallpox, monkeypox and other poxvirus infections". In Goldman, Lee; Schafer, Andrew I. (eds.). Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Vol. 2 (26th ed.). Philadelphia: Elsevier. pp. 2180–2183. ISBN 978-0-323-53266-2.
  11. "Transmission Monkeypox". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 11 May 2015. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  12. Adler, Hugh; Gould, Susan; Hine, Paul; Snell, Luke B.; Wong, Waison; Houlihan, Catherine F.; et al. (24 May 2022). "Clinical features and management of human monkeypox: a retrospective observational study in the UK". The Lancet. Infectious Diseases. 22 (8): S1473–3099(22)00228–6. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00228-6. PMC 9300470. PMID 35623380. S2CID 249057804.
  13. "2003 U.S. Outbreak Monkeypox". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 11 May 2015. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  14. "Treatment Monkeypox Poxvirus CDC". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 28 December 2018. Archived from the original on 15 June 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  15. Fine, P. E.; Jezek, Z.; Grab, B.; Dixon, H. (September 1988). "The transmission potential of monkeypox virus in human populations". International Journal of Epidemiology. 17 (3): 643–650. doi:10.1093/ije/17.3.643. ISSN 0300-5771. PMID 2850277.
  16. "Prevention". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 29 November 2019. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  17. "Interim Clinical Guidance for the Treatment of Monkeypox | Monkeypox | Poxvirus | CDC". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 26 May 2022. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  18. "Monkeypox". GOV.UK. 24 May 2022. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  19. "Multi-country monkeypox outbreak in non-endemic countries: Update" (Press release). World Health Organization (WHO). Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  20. "Monkeypox – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". World Health Organization. 16 May 2022. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  21. Pinkstone, Joe (17 May 2022). "Monkeypox 'spreading in sexual networks'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  22. Nsofor, Ifeanyi (2 June 2022). "OPINION: Media coverage of monkeypox paints it as an African virus. That makes me mad". NPR. Retrieved 2 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. Vargas, Ramon Antonio (7 June 2022). "US raises monkeypox alert level but says risk to public remains low". the Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  24. "Monkeypox update: Where the outbreak stands now".
  25. "Madrid estudia si hay vínculo entre los casos de viruela del mono de la capital y Canarias". RTVE (in Spanish). 22 May 2022.
  26. Pascual, Alfredo (21 May 2022). "Así es la sauna Paraíso, foco del brote de viruela del mono en Madrid". El Confidencial (in Spanish).
  27. "La sauna 'Paraíso' niega "cualquier responsabilidad sobre el foco de infección de la viruela del mono" en Madrid". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Servimedia. 8 June 2022.
  28. Soto, Álvaro (8 June 2022). "Reabre la sauna Paraíso, foco de la viruela del mono en Madrid". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish).
  29. "La mayoría de los contagiados con la viruela del mono mantuvo relaciones con desconocidos" [A majority of monkeypox infected had relations with strangers]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 7 June 2022.
  30. "Alerta sobre infección de viruela de los monos en España y otros países no endémicos" (PDF). Ministry of Health (in Spanish). 10 June 2022.
  31. Alerta Monkeypox
  32. Vargas, Natalia G. (25 May 2022). "La viruela del mono y el uso de la salud como gasolina para la discriminación". Canariasahora (in Spanish).
  33. "La Fiscalía investiga por delito de odio unas publicaciones sobre el colectivo LGTBI y la viruela del mono". ABC (in Spanish). 10 June 2022.
  34. "Andalucía registra 332 casos activos de viruela del mono, con 96 en investigación, y suma ya 319 personas vacunadas". europapress (in Spanish). 12 August 2022.
  35. "La Comunidad de Madrid detecta 2.169 casos de viruela del mono y supera las 1.900 dosis de vacuna administradas". europapress (in Spanish). 12 August 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.