A new study published Monday found that many patients who contracted monkeypox during the 2022 outbreak suffered physical effects that lasted more than a year.
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Columbia University’s Division of Infectious Diseases, and the University of Texas Health Science Center conducted a study of more than 300 adults who were diagnosed with monkeypox between May 2022 and January 2023, or were at risk of infection but were never infected.
Researchers found that more than half, 58%, of those diagnosed with monkeypox during the 2022 outbreak still had persistent physical effects between 11 and 18 months later, according to the study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
The research team said that the study results highlight the long-term psychological, social and behavioral effects of monkeypox, especially among people who were affected during the outbreak.
What happened during the 2022 monkeypox outbreak?
The outbreak of the disease in the United States, which was part of a broader global outbreak, saw the first confirmed case recorded in the city of Boston during May 2022. The number of infections quickly rose, and at some points the number of cases doubled weekly.
In August 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared monkeypox a public health emergency, and the World Health Organization declared it a global health emergency. During the same month, the first death linked to the disease was recorded in the United States.
During the outbreak, most cases were among people who identified themselves as gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men, but doctors warned at the time that anyone could be infected with the virus.
With the arrival of late fall, the average number of daily cases began to decrease significantly, and the administration of then US President Joe Biden announced that the health emergency would end in January 2023. The outbreak resulted in more than 30,000 cases being recorded in the United States.
Public health experts told ABC News at the time that the decline in infections was the result of a combination of changing individual behaviors and implementing a widespread vaccination campaign.
How can monkeypox affect you in the long term?
For the study, the researchers recruited 355 participants from New York City and Houston, including 154 patients who had been diagnosed with monkeypox and 201 people who were at risk but not known to have the disease.
The results showed that 58% of monkeypox patients experienced at least one persistent physical effect a year or more after infection, with the most common problem being permanent scarring or skin discoloration in one or more areas of the body.
Other effects included difficulty defecating or fecal incontinence, urinary hesitation or urinary incontinence, decreased range of motion, neurological weakness, and feelings of chronic fatigue.
The research team also found that the persistence of the physical effects of monkeypox is linked to social and economic factors, in addition to the social stigma that some patients were exposed to during the outbreak.
