Monkeypox virus infections in children in Spain during the first months of the 2022 outbreak

Very low risk of monkeypox among staff and students after exposure to a confirmed case in educational settings, England, May to July 2022

“…Reassuringly, monkeypox cases in England have been declining since mid-July 2022, through a combination of public health messaging to avoid high-risk behaviour and seek early medical help, and a national immunisation programme for GBMSM, pre-exposure vaccination for healthcare workers and pre-and post-exposure vaccination for close contacts of confirmed cases. So far, there have been no reports of monkeypox transmission in any educational setting in the current global outbreak [3,13], although a child was recently sent home with monkeypox in Oregon, United States, even though this child did not contract the virus at school, childcare or another community setting [14]. In our investigations, too, there were no secondary cases among students or staff despite prolonged exposure to an adult with confirmed monkeypox.…”

“…So far, there have been no reports of monkeypox transmission in any educational setting in the current global outbreak [ 3 , 13 ], although a child was recently sent home with monkeypox in Oregon, United States, even though this child did not contract the virus at school, childcare or another community setting [ 14 ]. In our investigations, too, there were no secondary cases among students or staff despite prolonged exposure to an adult with confirmed monkeypox.…”

“…Despite the high numbers of confirmed monkeypox cases so far, there have been very few cases in children, who account for less than 1% of confirmed cases globally [ 3 , 4 ]. As children return to school after the summer holidays in many parts of the world, concerns have been raised about the risk of monkeypox in educational settings [ 5 ].…”

Wastewater based epidemiology beyond SARS-CoV-2: Spanish wastewater reveals the current spread of Monkeypox virus

“…;Thornhill et al, 2022). Sadly, two deaths linked to this outbreak have occurred in Spain due to complications associated with encephalitis (Aguilera-Alonso et al, 2022). It is assumed that transmission occurs after close contact with skin lesions of an infected person, as well as through contact with respiratory droplets and fomites, and that infection is symptomatic in all patients (McCollum and Damon, 2014).…”

Monkeypox in children: Update on the current outbreak and need for better reporting

“…In Spain, 3 of 4 cases in <4 year-olds were household-acquired, while 13–17 year-olds acquired the infection in a tattoo parlour ( n =9) or through sexual contact ( n =3). 2 One infant in the US reportedly presented with a rash, was hospitalized for several days and treated with tecovirimat. 3 The UK case was reported by a national newspaper to be hospitalised in a London Intensive Care Unit, but this was neither confirmed nor denied by public health authorities.…”