By Jacqueline Howard; CNN
There have been more than 25,000 monkeypox cases in the United States during the current outbreak, and deaths among monkeypox patients are rare.
Among the few reported, it has sometimes been difficult to determine the role monkeypox played in the deaths.
“It’s sort of the old situation we had with Covid: Did you die of Covid, or did you die with Covid? And so this is the same scenario: Did you die with monkeypox, or did you die of monkeypox?” said Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
The first confirmed US death due to monkeypox was reported in Los Angeles County in September. A person with monkeypox in Houston died in August, but officials have not determined whether the virus caused the death. On Thursday, Ohio reported its first death of a person with monkeypox but noted that “the individual also had other health conditions.”
Many people who have been infected with monkeypox in this outbreak also have compromised immune systems or underlying health conditions, such as HIV. It can be tough for officials to determine whether a death in fact was caused by monkeypox or whether the person died of an underlying health condition while they happened to be infected with monkeypox.
Research from other outbreaks has found that deaths from monkeypox more often affect babies, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.
The experts must ask, “were your underlying conditions so great that this type of disease would have a tremendously more impactful impact on your ability to survive?” Freeman said.
Potential for severe illness
Globally, there have been more than 68,000 monkeypox cases and 25 confirmed deaths in the current outbreak, according to the World Health Organization.
New monkeypox cases in the United States have been steadily dropping in recent weeks, but concern remains about the possibility of severe illness or death, especially in immunocompromised people. In an alert sent to health care providers on Thursday, the CDC said some people with with monkeypox have had “severe manifestations” of the illness, extended hospitalizations or “substantial” health problems.
“People who are immunocompromised due to HIV or other conditions are at higher risk for severe manifestations of monkeypox than people who are immunocompetent,” the CDC reported.
The L.A. County resident who died was “severely immunocompromised and had been hospitalized,” according to a news release from the county’s Department of Public Health.
“It just points to, I think, the greater message that even though we’ve sort of slated this disease as a mild disease that can be overcome with vaccine and treatment and other mitigation efforts, for people who have these conditions already, it can be deadly,” Freeman said.
“So it’s not a disease that one should not worry about, especially if you know you have a compromised immune system or you’re dealing with some other serious conditions,” she added. “These few deaths – whether or not they’re fully attributable to monkeypox or people died with monkeypox – they likely wouldn’t have died if they didn’t have some of these underlying conditions or their bodies weren’t already compromised.”
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