Many patients who contracted mpox during the 2022 outbreak experienced physical effects more than a year later, a new study published on Monday finds.
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Columbia University’s division of Infectious siseases and the University of Texas Health Science Center looked at more than 300 adults who were either diagnosed with mpox between May 2022 and January 2023 or were at risk but never infected.
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They found that more than half — 58% — of those who were diagnosed with mpox during the 2022 outbreak still had lingering physical effects between 11 and 18 months later, according to the study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
The team said its study helps shed light on the long-term psychosocial and behavioral impacts of mpox, particularly among those affected during the outbreak.
What happened during the 2022 mpox outbreak?
The U.S. outbreak — part of a larger global outbreak — saw its first case documented in Boston in May 2022. Cases began quickly rising and, in some instances, doubling every week.
In August 2022, the CDC declared mpox to be a public health emergency and the World Health Organization declared it a global health emergency. During the same month, the U.S. recorded its first death from mpox.
During the outbreak, most cases were among people who identified as gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men. However, doctors warned that anyone can test positive for the virus.
Michael Nagle/Xinhua via Getty Images – PHOTO: A pedestrian walks past a monkeypox vaccination site in New York, Sept. 6, 2022.
By late fall, the average number of daily cases began dramatically falling, and the then-Biden administration announced it would let the emergency declaration expire in January 2023. The outbreak led to more than 30,000 cases in the U.S.
Public health experts told ABC News at the time that the combination of people changing their behaviors and a strong vaccination campaign helped beat back the disease.
How mpox may affect people long-term
For the study, researchers recruited 355 participants in New York City and Houston, including 154 patients who were diagnosed with mpox and 201 people who were at risk but never diagnosed.
Results showed that 58% of mpox patients had at least one persistent physical effect about a year or more later. The most common problem was persistent lesions in one or more areas of the body.
Other issues included difficulty defecating or stool incontinence, urinary hesitancy or incontinence, reduced range of motion, neurologic impairment and fatigue.
The team also found that suffering from physical effects of mpox was associated with socioeconomic factors and stigma.
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Mpox patients who reported experiencing unstable housing or homelessness, unemployment, receiving disability or food insecurity in the last month were more likely to report ongoing mpox-related impacts on employment compared to those not reporting those characteristics.
Additionally, some mpox patients reported mpox-related stigma, feeling hurt by how people reacted to their mpox diagnosis and people hesitant to be around them since their mpox diagnosis.
The authors said the findings “provide context into the enduring physical and psychosocial effects that may occur because of mpox.”
What is mpox?
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, mostly spreads via skin-to-skin contact with a person with the virus or through contact with a patient’s rash, lesions, scabs or body fluids, according to the CDC.
Although mpox can spread during intimate sexual contact, there is no evidence it is spread through sexual fluids.
It can also spread through prolonged contact with objects or fabrics — including clothes, bedsheets and towels — touched or used by someone with mpox, but this brings a lower risk.
Bsip/BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images – PHOTO: Colorized transmission electron micrograph of mpox virus particles (orange) found within an infected cell (brown and yellow), cultured in the laboratory.
Mpox patients often form a rash on their hands, feet, chest, face, mouth or near the genitals, according to the CDC.
Most mpox patients recover within two to four weeks without specific treatments and receive “supportive care,” such as Tylenol, for fever or topical pain relievers for rashes.
Currently, the JYNNEOS vaccine, a two-dose vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent smallpox and mpox, is the only one being used in the U.S.
The JYNNEOS vaccine is recommended for adults at high risk for mpox, which includes people who are gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men and have recent or upcoming risk factors like multiple sexual partners, intimate contact with someone who may have mpox, or have sex at commercial venues.
