Fauci warns against monkeypox outbreak assumptions; compares situation to HIV/AIDS epidemic

White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci warned against making assumptions about a global monkeypox outbreak, citing choices made during the early days of the HIV-AIDS pandemic.

In an excerpt written in the New England Journal of Medicine, Fauci and Dr. H. Clifford Lane wrote that the emerging epidemiological pattern of cases bears a “striking resemblance” to early cases of HIV/AIDS—including most monkeypox cases. Outbreaks have been found in men who have sex with men.

The virus is typically spread by direct wound-to-skin contact, and the researchers note that evidence suggests that prolonged or repeated contact is required for transmission.

People can also become infected by coming in contact with infected clothing or bedsheets.

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In particular, health officials have emphasized that the virus is not considered a sexually transmitted infection, although men at high risk of the disease are advised to reduce their number of sexual partners and avoid group or anonymous sex. Is given.

During the HIV-AIDS epidemic, the pair noted that the disease-causing microorganisms were unknown and that unlike today, no antidote was available, such as vaccines.

“Given how little we know about the epidemiological characteristics of the current outbreak, it is prudent to focus on an observation made during the first year of the HIV/AIDS epidemic: ‘… will be confined to a particular section of the society. In fact a belief without a scientific basis.’ Thus, additional detailed epidemiological and observational studies, serosurvey and ongoing surveillance for new cases are of critical importance,” said Fauci and Lane, who serves as the NIAID deputy director for clinical research and special projects. do, urged. Fauci is stepping down in December as White House chief medical adviser and NIAID director.

This 2003 electron microscope image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virus, left and rounded immature virus obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak.
(Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP)

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He added that the challenge going forward is to ensure efficient and equitable availability and distribution of countermeasures, as well as conducting the rigorous studies needed to define what clinical efficacy may be, and any potential safety concerns. Identifying and guiding proper use.

“Lessons learned during the responses to AIDS and COVID-19 should help us design a more efficient and effective response to monkeypox, and the response to monkeypox, in turn, is the inevitable next re-emergence or re-emergence.” should help inform our response to infectious disease with pandemic potential,” the pair concluded.

America’s top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci wears a face mask during the White House COVID-19 Response Team’s routine call with the National Governors Association at the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus on Monday. , December 27, 2021, Washington, DC. In
(AP Photo/Carolyn Custer)

There are about 17,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox and orthopoxvirus in the US and 46,724 cases worldwide, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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According to the World Health Organisation, there has been a 21% drop in the number of cases reported globally in the past week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.