There is a first indication of possible therapy for monkeypox, which is spreading rapidly outside of Africa, where it is considered an endemic disease. In Italy, so far, four cases have been recorded.
Antivirals
In Britain, eight cases (thus a very small cohort) of monkeypox that occurred in the country between 2018 and 2021 were reviewed. They were the first examples of human-to-human transmission outside Africa. The subjects had been treated with two antivirals, brincidofovir and tecovirimat.
While the former had disappointing results, the latter had potentially shortened symptoms and shortened the period during which patients were considered contagious. The study was published in the Lancet.
Monkeypox: what it is and how it manifests itself. The cases in Italy and in Europe
by Aureliano Stingi
19 Maggio 2022
“While health care institutions are trying to understand what caused this monkeypox cluster in Europe and North America, our study offers one of the first indications of the use of antivirals to treat the disease in humans,” explains Dr. Hugh Adlerfrom Liverpool University Hospitals, author of the study – Historically, at least so far, this disease has never been transmitted efficiently from person to person and in general the risk to public health remains low. ”
It should be noted that only one of the seven patients in question was treated with tecovirimat and therefore, as the authors themselves admit, it is necessary to investigate the action of the antivirals in question much more thoroughly. All seven patients, however, managed with moderate symptoms and recovered.
But there is no cure
“Tecovirimat was already used for pox viruses, such as chicken pox and smallpox, and it is known. This study is a first sign that demonstrates the effectiveness of the drug, but it is not enough – he observes Fabrizio Pregliasco, virologist, medical director of the Galeazzi Orthopedic Institute in Milan – There is currently no cure, the infection is attacked for now with a support anti-inflammatory therapy, as well as with antivirals. The disease usually has a good course. Who has been vaccinated against smallpox (immunization in Italy was suspended in 1977 and repealed in 1981, n.d.r.) is 85% protected as the data from Africa tell us “.
It is not yet clear whether the virus is transmitted by aerosol: “Droplet infection may exist but it does not seem to work well – observes the virologist – Instead, sexual intercourse makes transmission extremely effective, as well as all close contacts”.
Some experts have spoken of a new infectious disease, but Pregliasco disagrees: “It has been known since 1958 and the first cases in humans occurred in the 1970s. In the past, however, there had never been so many transmissions in Countries where the disease is not endemic “. The expert calls for calm and thinks that there will be no need for a mass vaccination against smallpox.
But there is another aspect to watch out for. As evidenced by theEuropean Centre for Disease Prevention and Controlit is necessary to ensure that pets or animals we may come into contact with, such as rodents and squirrels, are not infected to prevent monkeypox from becoming endemic to us too.