In Spain, cases of monkeypox (mpox) have recently increased, highlighting the need to establish new prevention and vaccination strategies, said the Minister of Health, Monique Garciafor the entire national territory. During the year 2024, 497 cases of mpox were recorded, with a slight rebound in some autonomous communities due to an increase in cases. retrospective detection and epidemiological surveillance reinforced in several regions: over the last month, 70 positives have been confirmed. The majority of these cases involve men between 30 and 49 years old, and more than 65% of those affected present symptoms in the anogenital region. Other common symptoms include fever and fatigue, and some cases have developed complications such as secondary bacterial infections.
The main route of transmission remains close contact during sexual relationsparticularly in certain risk groups. The Ministry of Health stressed the importance of completing the vaccination schedule, since only a fraction of those vaccinated have received the second dose. It is also recommended that healthcare professionals pay attention to early symptoms to effectively stop transmission. This outbreak highlights the importance of closely monitoring the situation to limit the spread of the disease. monkeypox in the general population.
Thus, since the start of this monkeypox epidemic in the world, in our country it has already been detected since April 2022, 8,346 cases. There are therefore already 497 positive cases in 2024, including 187 in Madrid, Catalonia (139) and Andalusia (99). Concerning the regions which have not reported cases, there are: Aragon, Asturias And La Rioja.
Cases on the rise in Africa
THE World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the number of cases of mpox in Africa shows an overall upward trend, driven mainly by cases reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Uganda, according to the 42nd situation report on the multinational mpox epidemicwhich provides updated information on the epidemiological situation in Africa with data as of November 3, 2024.
Despite the upward trend, data from recent weeks for the Democratic Republic of Congo may suggest that the total number of reported cases is stabilizing, but the WHO Highlights that this should be interpreted as “caution“, given likely delays in reporting and recurring shortages of testing materials in the country, “which hamper the ability to confirm cases of monkeypox.”
Since November 3, the monpox virusor clade Ib in six provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo: South Kivu, North Kivu, Kinshasa, Kasaï, Tshopo and Tanganyika, with no new affected areas known since the last update. In addition, 11 other countries have also reported cases of clade Ib.
According to the report, in the Democratic Republic of CongoThe total number of new mpox cases reported appears to be stabilizing in South Kivu, which continues to report the highest number of cases in the country. In other provinces, disparate epidemiological trends are observed, with a few hotspots often driving the increase in reported cases.
Two diagnostic tests
The World Health Organization (WHO) included two other diagnoses this Wednesday. in vitro (IVD) of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, in its Emergency Use List (EUL)both being polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which detect viral DNA and are considered the method “reference” to diagnose this disease.
One of them is the Xpert Mpoxmade by Céhéid based on emergency use listing procedures, which is an “easy to use” test with results available in less than 40 minutes.
“Once the cartridge is placed in the system, the process is fully automated, with real-time PCR detecting monkeypox virus clade II viral DNA. The GeneXpert system -by which this test works- is a near-point-of-care testing option, which can enable decentralized testing,” read a WHO statement.
The organization also approved the test cobas MPXVdeveloped by the company Roche molecular systems, and is capable of detecting mpox clades and providing results in less than two hours, and can process multiple samples simultaneously, making it a “suitable” procedure for clinical laboratories with high volumes of testing.
