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. 2023 Feb;28(7):2300072.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.7.2300072.

Persistent morbidity in Clade IIb mpox patients: interim results of a long-term follow-up study, Belgium, June to November 2022

Nicole Berens-Riha  1 , Stefanie Bracke  1 , Jojanneke Rutgers  1 , Christophe Burm  1 , Liesbeth Van Gestel  1 , Matilde Hens  1 , Chris Kenyon  2   1 , Emmanuel Bottieau  1 , Patrick Soentjens  1 , Isabel Brosius  1 , Marjan Van Esbroeck  1 , Koen Vercauteren  1 , Johan van Griensven  1 , Christophe van Dijck  3   1 , Laurens Liesenborghs  3   1 ; ITM monkeypox study group  4 ; Members of the ITM Monkeypox Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Persistent morbidity in Clade IIb mpox patients: interim results of a long-term follow-up study, Belgium, June to November 2022

Nicole Berens-Riha et al. Euro Surveill. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

While mpox was well characterised during the 2022 global Clade IIb outbreak, little is known about persistent morbidity. We present interim results of a prospective cohort study of 95 mpox patients assessed 3-20 weeks post-symptom onset. Two-thirds of participants had residual morbidity, including 25 with persistent anorectal and 18 with genital symptoms. Loss of physical fitness, new-onset/worsened fatigue and mental health problems were reported in 36, 19 and 11 patients, respectively. These findings require attention by healthcare providers.

Keywords: fatigue; follow-up; long-term follow-up; medium-term follow-up; monkeypox; mpox; sequelae.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Persistent anal (n = 33) and genital symptoms (n = 32) in mpox patients at follow-up 3–6 weeks after symptom onset, Antwerp, Belgium, June–November 2022
Figure 2
Figure 2
Persistent anal and genital symptoms (n = 14) in mpox patients at follow-up 7–20 weeks after symptom onset, Antwerp, Belgium, June–November 2022
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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