“Severely immunocompromised individuals who are suspected of having monkeypox are encouraged to seek medical attention and treatment promptly and remain under the care of a provider during their illness,” the news release states. Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told CNN in an email that “the person’s weakened immune system could not control the virus once it entered the body, the virus multiplied in an unlimited way and likely spread to multiple organ systems, causing them to malfunction.” Deaths from monkeypox are extremely rare and often affect babies, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as from HIV. A person in Harris County, Texas, who had monkeypox died last month, but the role of the virus in that death has not been confirmed. Nearly 22,000 cases of suspected or confirmed monkeypox have been reported in the U.S. this year, as of Monday, according to CDC data. California has the most cases: 4,300. Globally in this outbreak, there have been nearly 58,000 cases and 18 confirmed deaths, according to CDC data, which does not yet include the death in the US. Trends in monkeypox cases appear to be leveling off, health officials say, but that should not lead to complacency. “We continue to see a downward trend in Europe,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week. “While reported cases from the Americas also decreased last week, it is more difficult to draw firm conclusions about the outbreak in this region. Some countries in the Americas continue to report increasing numbers of cases, and some may be underreporting due to stigma and stigma and discrimination or lack of information for those who need it most. “A downtrend can be the most dangerous time if it opens the door to complacency,” he warned.
