Epidemiology of monkeypox notifications in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Paula Luciana Gonçalves Pereira, Edmundo Rinolino Magalhães Flores, Thales Philipe Rodrigues da Silva and 5 others
PMID 37820161WHAT IT FOUND
In Minas Gerais, confirmed monkeypox cases were overwhelmingly men who have sex with men, with a median age of 33.
Most presented with fever and rash, often multiple lesions in the genital region. Over a third of confirmed cases had HIV, and syphilis was the most common co-infection.
Key findings
01Confirmed cases were predominantly male (98.53%), cisgender (76.63%), and homosexual (71.28%), with a median age of 33 years.
02Sudden onset of fever and acute skin rash were the most prevalent symptoms across all case types, and most patients presented with multiple lesions in the genital region.
03Among confirmed cases, 38.79% were people living with HIV and 13.74% had an active sexually transmitted infection, with syphilis being the most prevalent (51.85%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is retrospective and relies on notification data, which means it cannot collect additional clinical details or verify the accuracy of initial reports. There is missing data in several categories (e.g., sexual orientation, contact history), which may skew the reported percentages. The study period ended in September 2022, capturing only the early phase of the outbreak in this region, and some cases were still open or being updated at the time of analysis.
Declared interests
The paper does not explicitly state funding sources or conflicts of interest in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high rate of HIV and STI co-infection as monkeypox causing these conditions. These are pre-existing comorbidities in a population that already has higher risk for STIs, and the study does not establish a causal link between the virus and these infections.