Monkeypox clinical disease: Literature review and a tool proposal for the monitoring of cases and contacts

Abstract

The human monkeypox disease has mainly been described in Western and Central Africa. Since May 2022, the monkeypox virus has been spreading worldwide in a new epidemiological pattern, where cases result from person-to-person transmission, and develop clinically milder or less typical illness than during previous outbreaks in endemic areas. The newly-emerging monkeypox disease needs to be described over the long term, to improve cases definitions, to implement prompt control measures against epidemics, and to provide supportive care. Hence, we first conducted a review of historical and recent outbreaks to define the full clinical spectrum of the monkeypox disease and its course known so far. Then, we built a self-administrated questionnaire collecting daily symptoms of the monkeypox infection to follow cases and their contacts, even remotely. This tool will assist in the management of cases, the surveillance of contacts, and the conduct of clinical studies.

Keywords: Clinical questionnaire; Emergence; Epidemic; Follow-up; Outbreak; Surveillance.

Fig. 1

Literature search and study selection, adapted from “PRISMA 2020 flow diagram for new systematic reviews, which included searches of databases and registers only”.

Fig. 2

Self-collection form of clinical signs for the monitoring of MPX cases and contacts.