Confronting Inequities in STI Prevention, Diagnostics and Care

Symposium 6

LATE BREAKERS

Chairpersons: Angelika Stary; Yaw Ardu-Sarkodie
Venue: Kalala Conference Room

 

Time: 10:30 to 12:00
Epidemiology of human monkeypox in Africa: 1970-2022 [virtual presentation] [Click for more details] Dimie Ogoina
Monkeypox outbreak in The Netherlands: the first case-series from the Centre of Sexual Health, Public Health Service of Amsterdam Vita Jongen
Treponema pallidum predominates as the cause of genital ulcers in Lilongwe, Malawi Mitch Matoga
High effectiveness of doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis in reducing incident STIs  among MSM and transgender women on HIV PrEP or living with HIV (PLWH): A randomized open label trial Connie Celum
Memory B-cell responses to different HPV vaccine regimens: results from a dose-reduction randomised open-label trial (DoRIS) among Tanzanian school girls up to thirty-six months post-vaccination Rebecca Wiggins
Impairing the TprK antigenic variation system through genetic engineering yields an attenuated Treponema pallidum strain
[virtual presentation]		 Lorenzo Giacani
The epidemiology of human monkeypox in Africa (1970-2022)
Dimie Ogoina

Affiliations: Infectious Diseases Unit, Niger Delta University/Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Bayelsa, Nigeria.

Introduction
Human monkeypox (HMPX) was known as a rare, neglected disease common to some African countries, but beginning in May 2022, the monkeypox virus has spread globally resulting in over 14,000 cases in 72 countries. In this presentation, I discuss the evolution and factors associated with HMPX in Africa from discovery of the first human case in 1970 to the current global spread outside endemic countries in Africa.

Method
I conducted a narrative review of published and grey literature (between 1958- 2022) and retrieved information related to the number, distribution, aetiology, source, transmission, risk factors, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, clinical outcomes, and prevention of human monkeypox in Africa. I also share my published and yet to be published experience on the management of monkeypox patients in Nigeria since 2017.

Results
The first human case of monkeypox was reported in 1970 in a 9-month-old boy from a village in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Between 1970 and 1989, endemic countries reported fewer than 500 cases in total, with the majority linked to exposure to wildlife and occurring among children less than 10 years of age in rural settings. Beginning in the 1990’s in the DRC and in 2017 in Nigeria, the epidemiology has rapidly evolved with the DRC reporting over 1000 cases yearly and Nigeria reporting an average of 50 cases per year, including exported cases to Europe and USA. In both countries, the most affected age group has changed from children to young adults, and in Nigeria, males who have no established exposure to wildlife and live in urban settings are the most affected. Both countries have also reported increasing clusters of human-to-human transmissions, especially among household members. In Nigeria, there have been cases reported in closed prison settings and among a few married and unmarried sexual partners. However, the role of sexual transmission of MPX in Africa is yet to be established.

Conclusions
I discuss the factors underlying the re-emergence and spread of monkeypox within and outside endemic countries in Africa and the required interventions to address the challenge without leaving African countries behind.

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