Researchers have discovered a new form of monkey pox that is particularly virulent, especially in people who are HIV carriers.
Researchers have discovered a particularly severe form of monkey pox – or “mpox” – in people with AIDS. In a study published this Tuesday, February 21, scientists explain that this disease is frequently particularly fatal in people with HIV: it is a “serious and necrotizing form of mpox” which might “be similar to a disease characteristic of AIDS”, explain the authors, in the columns of the review The Lancet.
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In 2022, several tens of thousands of people had been affected by an epidemic of monkeypox. This had struck the vast majority of men having homosexual relations before resolving. However, homosexuals are a population at risk for HIV. At an advanced stage, AIDS affects the patient’s immunity.
Le “mpox fulminant”
In this context, scientists have taken a close interest in the risks to which HIV-positive patients are exposed to monkeypox. The researchers thus detected a particularly serious form of the disease which they called “fulminant mpox”. This type of monkeypox is of concern for patients who are in the advanced stages of AIDS. It thus results in massive necrosis of the skin, the genitals, and even the lungs.
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This particular type of monkeypox has so far caused the death of 27 patients. These deaths represent a large proportion of the deaths recorded during the past epidemic. These findings should, the researchers say, prompt authorities to prioritize monkeypox vaccination for people with HIV. They also want “fulminant mpox” to be added to the list of diseases characteristic of AIDS.
