A new study on monkeypox disease says children 8 years of age or younger should be treated as a high-risk population for more serious infections.
Petra Zimmerman, MD, Ph.D. University of Friborg, Switzerland, and Nigel Curtis, Ph.D. This latest study on monkeypox infection has been reviewed by the University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Australia.
According to The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, as quoted by news agency ANI, a new study on monkeypox disease states that children aged 8 years or less should be considered as a high-risk population for more severe viral infections .
Petra Zimmerman, MD, Ph.D. University of Friborg, Switzerland, and Nigel Curtis, Ph.D. This latest study on monkeypox infection has been reviewed by the University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Australia.
According to Zimmerman, young children will be a major target group for smallpox vaccination and other urgent measures if the outbreak escalates. They offer a professional perspective on "what doctors need to know" about childhood monkeypox.
Past outbreaks raise concerns about the risk of monkeypox in young children. As of August 2022, there were approximately 47,000 monkeypox cases with laboratory confirmations globally. Of these, only 211 were in children and adolescents under the age of 18.
Monkeypox virus appears to have been most widely transmitted through sexual or other close contact in the current outbreak. It is still unknown how other transmission routes, such as droplets and contaminated surfaces and objects, play a role.
Despite the so far low reported rates in children, there are particular concerns about complications and other serious consequences of monkeypox in children.
“There is also a reported increase in hospitalization rates among children and increased mortality in high-income countries,” said Dr. Zimmerman and Curtis said, ANI reported.
Based primarily on data from low-income countries, children under the age of 8 are at particularly high risk of complications, including serious bacterial infections. Young children may also be at increased risk of complications related to scratching and spreading the infection to other parts of the body, including the eyes.
Pregnant individuals, immunocompromised patients, those with eczema, and those who have a monkeypox rash around the mouth, eyes, or genitals are at additional risk populations.
Antiviral drugs such as tecovirimat, which is effective against orthopoxviruses, and vaccinia immune globulin (VIG), which is used to treat the side effects of smallpox vaccination, are medical options in these high-risk conditions.
However, "none of these treatments have been shown to be effective against monkeypox virus in humans in clinical trials, and they are currently recommended only after consultation with national health officials," the reviewers noted. .
Reviewers also go through some specific issues for expectant mothers, nursing mothers, and babies born to infected mothers.
Dr. Zimmerman and Curtis concluded that the smallpox vaccination provided protection against monkeypox. Officials should be prepared to rapidly adopt vaccination for this age group if the current outbreak spreads to young people.
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