This is an outdated version published on 2022-09-04. Read the most recent version.

Viral Adaptation, Vulnerable Health Care Systems and Health Inequities: Monkeypox as an emerging threat in the Global Health Agenda

Authors

  • Robert Paulino-Ramirez Instituto de Medicina Tropical & Salud Global, Universidad Iberoamericana
  • André Ricardo Ribas Freitas Faculdade de Medicina São Leopoldo Mandic, Campinas, São Paulo, Brasil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31005/iajmh.v5i.247

Keywords:

monkeypox, Health Inequities, Outbreak, Global Health, Emergency Prepareness, Vulnerabilized Communities

Abstract

Due to the increasing number of monkeypox virus (MPXV) cases, WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The transmission of monkeypox has been described during this outbreak associated with close sexual contact through the skin with infectious lesions. It is not very clear whether this virus is better adapting to human-human transmission, we do not know if the case fatality rate is being lower during the current global spread due to genetic changes in the virus or as an effect of a better understanding of the actual number of mild cases of infections. The emergence of pathogens, particularly the spillover of zoonotic viruses, is not a totally unpredictable phenomenon, the current monkeypox multi-country outbreak was preceded by a progressive increase in the number of cases in recent decades and changes in the epidemiological profile in affected areas of Africa. We must resume the conversation with civil society organizations, bring a more sex-positive health discourse through a healthy and stigma-free scientific dialogue.

References

- Lloyd-Smith JO, George D, Pepin KM, Pitzer VE, Pulliam JR, Dobson AP, Hudson PJ, Grenfell BT. Epidemic dynamics at the human-animal interface. Science. 2009 Dec 4;326(5958):1362-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1177345.

- Morens DM, Folkers GK, Fauci AS. Lancet Infect Dis. 2008;8:710.

- Morens DM, Taubenberger JK, Fauci AS. A Centenary Tale of Two Pandemics: The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and COVID-19, Part I. Am J Public Health. 2021 Jun;111(6):1086-1094. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2021.306310.

- Worobey M, Levy J, Serrano LM, et al. The Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Science 2022, vol.377 (6609).

- Pekar JE, Magee A, Parker E, et al. The molecular epidemiology of multiple zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2. Science 2022, vol.377 (6609).

- Yinka-Ogunleye, A. et al. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2019:19, 872-879.

- Von Magnus P, Krag Andersen E, Birkum Petersen K, Birch-Andersen A. A pox-like disease in cynomolgus monkeys. Acta Path 1959: 46 (2).

- Likos AM, Sammons SA, Olson VA, et al. A tale of two clades: Monkeypox viruses. J of Gen Virology 2005:86 (10).

- Monkeypox: experts give virus variants new names. World Health Organization (WHO). Available at: https://www.who.int/news/item/12-08-2022-monkeypox--experts-give-virus-variants-new-names

- Di Gennaro F, Veronese N, Marotta C, Shin JI, Koyanagi A, et al. Human Monkeypox: A Comprehensive Narrative Review and Analysis of the Public Health Implications. Microorganisms. 2022; 10(8):1633. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10081633

- Wang, L, Shang, J, Weng, S, et al. Genomic annotation and molecular evolution of monkeypox virus outbreak in 2022. J Med Virol. 2022; 1- 7. doi:10.1002/jmv.28036

- Silva NIO, de Oliveira JS, Kroon EG, Trindade GS, Drumond BP. Here, There, and Everywhere: The Wide Host Range and Geographic Distribution of Zoonotic Orthopoxviruses. Viruses. 2020 Dec 30;13(1):43. doi: 10.3390/v13010043

- O´Toole Á, Rambaut A. Initial observations about putative APOBEC3 Deaminase Editing driving short-term evolution of MPXV since 2017. ARTIC Network; 2022.

- Taylor L.H., Latham S.M., Woolhouse M.E.J. Risk factors for human disease emergence. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 2001 doi: 10.1098/rstb.2001.0888.

- Daszak P, et al. Wildlife and Emerging Zoonotic Diseases: The Biology, Circumstances and Consequences of Cross-Species Transmission. 2007;315:463–475.

- Deming ME, Chen WH. COVID-19 and Lessons to Be Learned from Prior Coronavirus Outbreaks. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2020 Jul;17(7):790-794. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202002-149PS.

- Wolfe ND, Daszak P, Kilpatrick AM, Burke DS. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005;11:1822.

- Alakunle, E.F., Okeke, M.I. Monkeypox virus: a neglected zoonotic pathogen spreads globally. Nat Rev Microbiol 20, 507–508 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-022-00776-z.

- Nuzzo JB, Borio LL, Gostin LO. The WHO Declaration of Monkeypox as a Global Public Health Emergency. JAMA. 2022;328(7):615–617. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.12513

- Multi-country outbreak of monkeypox, External situation report #4 (24 August 2022). Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/multi-country-outbreak-of-monkeypox--external-situation-report--4---24-august-2022

- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Update: multistate outbreak of monkeypox--Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin, 2003. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2003 Jul 11;52(27):642-6. PMID: 12855947.

- Tambo, E, Al-Nazawi, AM. Combating the global spread of poverty-related Monkeypox outbreaks and beyond. Infect Dis Poverty 11, 80 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40249-022-01004-9

- Mathieu E, Spooner F, Dattani S, Ritchie H, Roser M- "Monkeypox". Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved on August 26th, 2022 from: https://ourworldindata.org/monkeypox

- Rodriguez-Morales AJ, Lopardo G, Verbanaz S, Orduna T, et al. Latin America: Situation and preparedness facing the multi-country human monkeypox outbreak. The Lancet Regional Health 2022: 13 (100318).

- Vusirikala A, Charles H, Balasegaram S, Macdonald N, Kumar D, Barker-Burnside C, et al. Epidemiology of early monkeypox virus transmission in sexual networks of gay and bisexual men, England, 2022. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022 Oct. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2810.220960

- Thornhill JP, Barkati S, Walmsley S, Rockstroh J, Antinori A, Harrison LB, et al. Monkeypox virus infection in humans across 16 countries- April-June 2022. New Engl J of Med 2022;387:679-691.

- Karan A, Styczynski AR, Huang CH, Sahoo MK, Srinivasan K, Pinsky BA, et al. Human monkeypox without viral prodrome or sexual exposure, California, USA, 2022. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022 Oct. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2810.221191

- Tarín-Vicente EJ, Alemany A, Agud-Dios M, Ubals M, Suñer C, et al. Clinical presentation and virological assessment of confirmed human monkeypox cases in Spain: a prospective observational cohort study. Lancet 2022:400 (10353).

- Patel A, Bilinska J, Tam JCH, Da Silva Fontoura D, Mason CY, Daunt A, et al. Clinical features, and novel presentations of human monkeypox in a central London centre during the 2022 outbreak: descriptive case series. BMJ 2022,378: e072410, doi:10.1136/bmj-2022-072410

- Rao AK, Petersen BW, Whitehill F, Razeq JH, Isaacs SN, et al. Use of JYNNEOS (Smallpox and Monkeypox Vaccine, Live, Nonreplicating) for Preexposure Vaccination of Persons at Risk for Occupational Exposure to Orthopoxviruses: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices - United States, 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2022 Jun 3;71(22):734-742. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7122e1. Erratum in: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2022 Jul 08;71(27):886. PMID: 35653347; PMCID: PMC9169520.

- Budhwani H, Paulino-Ramirez R, Waters J, Bond CL, Ruiz I, Long D, et al. Adapting and pilot testing and HIV and intersectional stigma reducing intervention for Dominican Republic healthcare contexts: Protocol for translational research. Contem Clinc Trials Comm 2022: 29 (100980).

- Catungal JP, Klassen B, Ablenas R, Lambert S, Chown S, Lachowsky N. Organising care and community in the era of the ‘gay disease’: Gay community responses to HIV/AIDS and the production of differentiated care geographies in Vancouver. Urban Studies. 2021;58(7):1346-1363. doi:10.1177/0042098020984908

- Hayes EB. Zika virus outside Africa. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009 Sep;15(9):1347-50. doi: 10.3201/eid1509.090442.

- Donalisio MR, Freitas ARR, Zuben APBV. Arboviruses emerging in Brazil: challenges for clinic and implications for public health. Rev Saude Publica. 2017 Apr 10;51:30. doi: 10.1590/S1518-8787.2017051006889.

- Forni D, Cagliani R, Clerici M, Sironi M. Molecular Evolution of Human Coronavirus Genomes. Trends Microbiol. 2017 Jan;25(1):35-48. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2016.09.001.

- Duffy MR, Chen TH, Hancock WT, Powers AM, Kool JL, Lanciotti RS, Pretrick M, Marfel M, Holzbauer S, Dubray C, Guillaumot L, Griggs A, Bel M, Lambert AJ, Laven J, Kosoy O, Panella A, Biggerstaff BJ, Fischer M, Hayes EB. Zika virus outbreak on Yap Island, Federated States of Micronesia. N Engl J Med. 2009 Jun 11;360(24):2536-43. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa0805715.

- Bunge EM, Hoet B, Chen L, Lienert F, Weidenthaler H, Baer LR, Steffen R. The changing epidemiology of human monkeypox-A potential threat? A systematic review. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Feb 11;16(2):e0010141. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010141.

Published

2022-09-04

Versions

How to Cite

Paulino-Ramirez, R., & Ribas Freitas, A. R. (2022). Viral Adaptation, Vulnerable Health Care Systems and Health Inequities: Monkeypox as an emerging threat in the Global Health Agenda. InterAmerican Journal of Medicine and Health, 5. https://doi.org/10.31005/iajmh.v5i.247

Issue

Section

Editorial

Most read articles by the same author(s)