As we have learned multiple times in the past few centuries, pathogens have no respect for borders. Any local germ circulating in small outbreaks has the potential to suddenly make a global jump, causing pandemics and entrenching itself in new communities.
Such was the case with mpox (formerly known as monkeypox), which until recently was a neglected virus endemic to west and central Africa. In May 2022, a dramatic uptick of worldwide cases spread via sexual transmission lead the World Health Organization to declare a global mpox outbreak—which, although the pace of new infections is slowing, is not over yet. (And there’s a risk of it happening again: the same strain that caused the 2022 outbreak is currently surging in Sierra Leone).
This ongoing global mpox outbreak disproportionately impacts people infected with HIV, who are at higher risk of many diseases including some cancers. More severe cases of mpox have been reported in this population when HIV is not well controlled or during immunosuppression caused by low CD4 T cell counts. However, people living with HIV face many health disparities such as exclusion from clinical trials, and the full impact of HIV and mpox coinfection has not been studied.
Read the full analysis at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.
Source : Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
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