A second monkeypox-related death has been recorded in the United States, health officials announced Tuesday, as new infections in the country fall.
The first recorded death of a person with monkeypox was announced in late August in Texas, but officials said they were continuing to determine the disease’s role in the death of this patient, who also had a severely weakened immune system.
thousands of cases
The number of new monkeypox cases is declining in the United States after peaking in mid-August. Since the first case in the country in May, some 22,000 more have been detected. To curb the epidemic, which mainly affects the gay community, the United States has focused its efforts on a vaccination campaign for people at risk.
Cases of monkeypox, a viral disease characterized by skin lesions, usually resolve on their own but can be very painful and sometimes serious.
Both men were 30 years old and in good health, according to the description of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main federal health agency in the country.
Both have notably developed motor weaknesses and urinary disorders. They had to be hospitalized, but were eventually able to leave the hospital with a walking aid. MRIs showed spinal cord damage.
The mechanism by which these monkeypox neurological complications develop is “unclear,” the CDC said, while emphasizing that they remain “rare.”
Source: BFM TV
