First Monkeypox Case in Juvenile Reported in New York State

New York health officials this week reported the state’s first known case of monkeypox in a patient aged under 18.

A weekly summary of Monkeypox cases from New York State Department of Health has been released. It confirmed that the person infected resides out of New York City but didn’t specify the location.

Due to the confidentiality of patient data, the (pdf ) didn’t specify if the affected person was a teenager or a child.

The case is one out of about 2,800 monkeypox cases in the state of New York, with the vast majority–2596 cases–in New York City, according to New York’s health department as of Aug. 19.

Monkeypox, a viral disease that can cause severe illness but not often causes serious complications, may result in hospitalizations or even death. This year’s outbreak of monkeypox has seen a number of cases with a rash that was often found in the genital or peri-anal areas. You may also experience fever and swelling of the lymph nodes. The majority of cases will last between two and four weeks. This condition is most common among LGBT people.

The first cases of monkeypox among children in July were in California, where a toddler and an infant not from the United States. The disease was treated with antiviral treatment.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in late July that the two children’s cases can be traced back to “individuals who come from the men-who-have-sex-with-men community, the gay men’s community.” She noted that the cases, which were unrelated and occurred in California and Washington, D.C., may be the result of household transmission, but did not elaborate on the link.

The United States has logged over 14,000 cases of confirmed monkeypox or orthopoxvirus cases as of Aug. 18.

Reports said a ninth pediatric case of monkeypox was reported on Aug. 17, which also marked the first such case in Oregon state.

New York City, California and Illinois declared each state of emergency in response to the monkeypox epidemic that occurred over the last month.

So far this year, there have been more than 35,000 cases of monkeypox in more than 90 countries and 12 deaths.

Separately A report in The Lancet medical journal this month described what it is thought to have been the first case of monkeypox transmission from human-to-dog. The case was reported in France, in a pet dog of a homosexual male couple aged 44 and 27, who were co-sleeping with the dog.