Monkeypox epidemiology, clinical presentation, and transmission: a systematic review

Abstract

Abstract Background The new zoonotic viral infection, monkeypox, is a global health issue. Our study aimed at studying the epidemiology, clinical presentation, complications, case fatality rate, and transmission among the present cases of monkeypox infection. Methods Articles were searched in PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct databases using the keywords “Monkeypox” [MeSH] or “Monkeypox virus” (MeSH). Narrative reviews, conference abstracts, commentaries, and articles in languages other than English were excluded. Results From three databases, 1442 studies were identified. Seven hundred ten articles were excluded because they included data before 2022, leaving 732 items for screening. After filtering 320 data due to data duplication, 412 remained. Due to the inclusion of systematic reviews, meta-analyses, reviews, comments, and articles in languages other than English, 257 were excluded. Eligibility based on full-text review was applied to the remaining 155, excluding 129. So, the study covered a total of remaining 26 articles. We studied 2352 confirmed cases from published literature, accounting for approximately 4% of infected cases worldwide. Around 81.71% of patients have a bisexual or men having sex with men (MSM) preference. Approximately 30.18% of confirmed cases were HIV positive. Male sex was also identified as a risk factor in our review. Conclusion Monkeypox human-to-human and human-to-animal transmission are rising. Thus, it is essential to do research on the prevention, clinicodemographic trends, and treatment of monkeypox. Understanding this will enable us to treat monkeypox patients with a targeted and focused approach.

Keywords

• Complications
• Epidemiology
• Monkeypox
• Monkeypox virus
• Transmission