Can monkeypox cause neurological and psychiatric problems in some patients? – WION
Experts raised concerns when multiple outbreaks of monkeypox cases were reported across the world in the last few months. The monkeypox cases have been primarily reported among gay and bisexual men. The virus causes skin rashes, painful skin lesions and flu-like symptoms.
Now, some experts are probing how the virus has caused neurological and psychiatric problems in those who have been infected.
A report published in Science Alert claims to look at all the evidence from before the current monkeypox pandemic of neurological or psychiatric problems in people with a monkeypox infection. The results are published in the journal eClinicalMedicine.
The study noted that a small but small proportion of infected people (2 to 3 per cent) became very unwell and developed serious neurological problems. The issues included seizure and encephalitis.
Apart from the severe and rare brain problem, experts have also found some evidence of a group of people with monkeypox who had more common neurological symptoms including headache, muscle ache, and fatigue.
In-depth analysis and further investigation are needed to understand the issue. So far, the research is unclear on how severe these symptoms were and how long they lasted. Also, a further probe is needed to know how many people with monkeypox had psychiatric problems, such as anxiety and depression.
There’s a lack of certainty but the experts did find some cases where people with monkeypox infection can have neuropsychiatric symptoms. Notably, future research exploring this will need to follow up with people with no neuropsychiatric conditions before becoming infected with the disease.
Another study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, stated that over 500 people with monkeypox from 16 countries in the current outbreak.
Recently, two cases of monkeypox were reported and they confirmed encephalitis in Spain. However, the report clearly mentions that further study is needed to determine to what extent monkeypox is causing more serious problems like encephalitis and seizure.
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